


Betrayal of Blind Love

by BlackRose16



Series: Rescue Me [1]
Category: Charmed
Genre: Complete, F/M, Family, M/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-29
Updated: 2011-08-29
Packaged: 2017-10-23 05:12:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 27,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/246619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackRose16/pseuds/BlackRose16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris was not Piper and Leo's son. Who is he and what secrets is he hiding? Spoilers</p>
            </blockquote>





	Betrayal of Blind Love

Title: Betrayal of Blind Love  
Author: The Black Rose  
(theblackrose16 – livejournal)  
Beta: Elsa Kallan  
Summary: Chris was not Piper and Leo's son. Who is he and what secrets is he hiding?  
Pairings: Wyatt/Chris, Piper/Leo  
Warnings: Slash, Some violence/abuse, language  
Word Count: 27, 163  
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

 

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](http://pics.livejournal.com/theblackrose16/pic/0000dkcd/)

Chapter One  
________________________________________  
The music could be heard from outside. Inside P3, the club owned by Piper Halliwell, Phoebe and Piper were found sitting at the bar. Paige walked in, spotted them and headed over to the bar.  
Piper turned, catching sight of her sister, or rather her very bright orange/red hair. "Paige, where you been? You're late."  
Paige looked slightly sheepish, "I know. I'm sorry. I got tied up."  
Phoebe asked slyly, "Where? At Richard's?"  
Paige tried to look insulted. "No. I was at work. Get your mind out of the gutter, missy," she ordered pointing her finger at her sister.  
Phoebe laughingly exclaimed, "Hey, you're the one who orbs home to find lingerie."  
The sisters laughed. It was wonderful to be together again and just relax not fighting demons or warlocks or whatever else Chris wanted them to go after.  
"Two times, I did that twice."  
Piper added with slight longing, "Yes, it's about the only time we see you anymore."  
Exasperated Paige asked, "Why did I come here? To get picked on?"  
Phoebe was quick to answer, "Because we love you."  
Piper contributed, "I kinda miss ya."  
Paige defended, "I am not at Richard's that much. Fine, okay, maybe I am. But, you know I am just an orb away if you need help."  
Piper cautiously said, "Yeah, the thing is we've just gotta be careful because if we stray too far away from each other, demons take advantage. We've learned that lesson the hard way a few times."  
Paige replied quickly, "I know, I know, I get it. I just really don't want to think of us living together in fifty years."  
Piper sarcastically corrected, "Ah, twenty, thirty years tops."  
Phoebe added slightly hopeful, "We can always move to Hong Kong so I could see Jason whenever I want to."  
Piper turned towards Phoebe, "How do you say dream on in Chinese?"  
Leaning on the bar Phoebe replied, "Ni Tsai Tsua Mung.  
"Impressive."  
"Berlitz," was Phoebe's quick response. "Okay, what about you, missy? Spill it."  
Piper was confused, "Spill what?"  
Phoebe wore a duh look on her face, "Come on, you and Greg. Put out any fires lately?"  
Piper looked suspicious, "Is that supposed to be a subtle fireman reference?"  
Phoebe replied slightly proud of herself, "Yeah, you like it?"  
Paige was shocked, "Wait a minute, you're going out with a fire fighter?"  
Piper triumphantly pointed out, "Proof positive, you haven't been around much."  
Phoebe started recounting details, "Let's see. They've been seeing each other for about three weeks and someone, I won't say who, although it's not the fireman, is avoiding taking it to the next step."  
Piper explained, "I am not avoiding, I'm just a little reluctant. That's all."  
Paige responded cheerfully, "My dear, it is time to get back in the saddle."  
Piper looked amused, "Now a cowboy reference."  
"Piper, you just need to relax and let it happen," Phoebe advised  
"Yeah, easy for you to say, you weren't the one sleeping with an angel for three years." Her eyes clouded over with memories briefly.  
Phoebe argued, "Yeah, but you were nervous when you and Leo first started, you know. I seem to remember that you used to freeze him during all the good parts, right? Hey, maybe you should, uh..." Her voice trailed off suggestively as her eyebrows waged up and down.  
Piper looked resigned, "No, I'm not freezing Greg. I'm so nervous I'll probably blow him up."  
Phoebe was not sure how to respond to such a statement. "Well..."  
Piper pointed at her accusingly "Gutter, gutter, gutter."  
Phoebe just laughed. Spotting someone heading their way her laughter slowly died. Chris made his way over to them through the crowd of people in P3 dodging flailing limbs.  
"What are you guys talking about?" Chris enquired.  
Phoebe replied nonchalantly "Stuff," shrugging a shoulder.  
Their whitelighter nodded, his hair falling into his eyes slightly and turned to walk away.  
"Hey, where are you going?" Paige had to shout to be heard over the noise.  
Chris looked back at the sister and replied "I gotta go work on the next demon... stration." As if it was the most obvious answer in the world. Which considering that it was the brunette it should have been.  
Phoebe attempted to draw Chris into their conversation, "Chris, why don't you relax and come have a drink with us?"  
Chris just shook his head, "Thanks, but I didn't come here to relax."  
He turned and walked back into the crowd headed towards Piper's office.  
"That is one bitchy Whitelighter." Phoebe commented.  
Piper agreed, "You're telling me."  
"Hey, Piper, why don't you go talk to the guilt machine over there," Paige suggested.  
________________________________________  
-Backroom/Piper's Office-  
Chris walked in, closed the office door behind him before flipping the lights on. A young woman was sitting on the sofa. Dressed in a tight black leather outfit with long, straight auburn hair, she radiated danger.  
Chris exclaimed shocked, "Bianca." He cautiously walked over to her. "I don't understand. What are you doing here?"  
Bianca bowed her head to him. "Lord Christopher. Shh, there'll be time to explain later. But for now..."  
She ran her finger down his chest. She had a red symbol on her wrist in the shape of a bird. Suddenly she shoved her hand deep into his chest and a glow began to surround where her hand was.  
The door opened and Piper walked in and began to talk as she opened the door.  
"You know, all work and no, hey!"  
Bianca pulled her hand out of his chest and created an energy ball to fling at the oldest sister. Piper raised her hands and blew her up. Chris leaned against the wall and slowly slid to the floor.  
"Are you okay?" Piper asked concerned as she extended a hand and helped him off the floor.  
Chris winced, "Yeah, I think so."  
Piper asked her voice filled with confusion, "What happened? Who was she?"  
Chris immediately lied, "I don't know."  
________________________________________  
-Alley outside P3-  
In the dark, a swarm became visible swirling faster and faster. It gathered closer forming a figure that became solid…Bianca. She glanced at the club before shimmering out leaving no trace of ever having been there.  
Chapter Two  
________________________________________  
Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Leo and Chris were all assembled in the attic. Piper and Paige were looking through the Book of Shadows trying to identify the mysterious woman who had attacked Chris. Paige stopped flipping through the pages and pointed to a symbol in the book.  
"Is that the mark?" Paige asked once again.  
Piper almost sighed, "No, it looked more like a bird."  
"A bird. So you're saying maybe the Audubon society sent the demon after us?" Paige suggested slightly sarcastic.  
Piper was becoming irritated, "Just keep looking."  
Chris tried to once again get them to stop searching. "Guys, I'm telling you I'm fine, don't sweat it."  
Leo turned to Piper and asked, "You sure she wasn't a Darklighter?"  
"I'm sure."  
Phoebe was highly curious. "What else would be after a Whitelighter?"  
"I don't know, that's what worries me," Leo spoke a frown on his face.  
Chris was getting desperate. "She's gone. Piper blew her away, what's the big deal?"  
Phoebe spoke with disbelief, "The big deal is someone tried to kill you, Chris."  
Chris flung out his arms. "Look at me, not a scratch, nothing."  
Leo once again spoke this time with suspicion, "You know, how did she get that close to you, anyway, if you didn't even know who she was?" Leo was watching Chris as if waiting for he to slip and make a mistake.  
The brunette had taken to pacing. Chris took a step and the floor boards squeaked.  
Turning to Leo he dodged the question, "We really oughta fix that, you know."  
Leo didn't allow Chris to deter him, "Come on, Chris, who's after you?"  
Chris pulled one last ditch attempt. "Has it crossed your mind that maybe she wasn't after me? Maybe she was trying to get to them." He spoke pointing at the general direction of the charmed ones.  
Paige glanced up startled, "It kind of makes sense."  
Chris, looking triumphant, shouted, "Finally, somebody's listening. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some work to take care of."  
He turned and walked as quickly as he could without looking like he was running out the attic door.  
Leo was once again frowning. "He's not telling the truth."  
Paige was tired of this repeated statement. "Leo, maybe there's nothing to tell."  
Leo ignored her and turned to the empathy. "Could you sense anything?"  
Phoebe replied surprised, "From Chris? No, I can never sense anything from him."  
"What are you thinking?" Piper questioned  
Leo replied hopefully, "I'm thinking that if we can figure out who she was, we might be able to find out who Chris is."  
Paige gave up her search. "Well, we're not gonna find it in here. At least not until we have more to go on. So guys, you know where I'm gonna be if you need me."  
Paige walked out the attic with Phoebe following close behind her.  
"Yeah, I gotta go too," she stated while heading out.  
Leo turned to his ex-wife, "Wait, you're just gonna let them go?"  
Piper shrugged saying, "What do you want me to say? They have lives too. Besides, what more can we do?"  
Leo was becoming irritated, "We can try to figure out who the demon is and make sure nobody else is after him."  
Ding-Dong  
"I'll get it. You just keep checking on the book, okay?"  
"No, Leo, really, I'd rather you..." Piper tried to say in a hurry.  
Leo orbed downstairs cut her argument short.  
________________________________________  
-Front Door-  
White and Blue orbs formed into the shape of the elder who immediately opened the door.  
Greg, the fireman and Piper's current boyfriend, stood at the door looking confused.  
Leo unsuspectingly, politely asked him, "Can I help you?"  
Greg answered shifting his feet, "Uh, yeah, is Piper home?"  
"Uh, who's asking?"  
"I'm Greg, she's expecting me."  
Piper came running down the stairs with her coat on and carrying her purse.  
Piper quickly started speaking, "Uh, Leo, I got it," she turned to Greg, "Sorry, I'm running a little late."  
Greg looked even more uncomfortable. "Leo? Is he your, uh..."  
Piper answered in a hurry to leave, "Yeah, one in the same. Leo, Greg, Greg, Leo."  
They reluctantly shook hands.  
"Nice to finally meet you," Greg said lying through his teeth  
Leo, unsure of how to answer, simply replied, "Thanks. Finally."  
Piper turned towards Leo on her way out the door with the fireman, "So you're gonna be okay taking care of everything? Wyatt and Chris?"  
Shifting back and forth on his feet, he was reluctant to answer, "Uh, yeah, absolutely. Really, everything will be fine. If anything comes up I'll call you."  
Relieved she simply said, "Okay, thanks, good night."  
Piper and Greg headed down the driveway leaving Leo to watch them go.  
________________________________________  
-Bathroom Upstairs-  
Chris was standing, almost leaning against the bathroom counter staring at his reflection in the mirror. He slowly opened his shirt revealing a large wound on his chest. Slowly and painfully, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. The whitelighter from the future gazed at the ring as a memory flashed through his mind of when he had first met Bianca.  
"Chris, this is Bianca. You are not to leave the house without her by your side from now on."  
"What? Am I now to be a prisoner?"  
"No, I just need to know where you are at all times."  
"I'm not a child that answers to you. We're married, that means we are supposed to be equals. Why are you doing this? Don't you trust or love me?"  
"It's because I love you that Bianca will now be your personal bodyguard but don't get any ideas. She still only answers to me."  
Back in the bathroom, Chris was still standing before the mirror.  
*Where did everything go so wrong? Why didn't I see it sooner? Was I so blind?*  
Putting the ring away, he sighed before orbing out.  
Chapter Three  
________________________________________  
-Richard's Bedroom-  
Paige was lying in bed. Richard walked in carrying a tray with breakfast on it complete with a red rose.  
Richard "Morning."  
Yawning, Paige sat up exclaiming, "Wow!" over the feast before her.  
"Wow. One of the most powerful witches in the world and all you can say is wow." They share a kiss.  
Pulling away, Paige answered suggestively, "I don't know, maybe I just need a little more inspiration."  
They kissed more passionately.  
Richard broke away querying, "Well?"  
Paige pondered her answer. "I, um, still think wow pretty much covers it. You'd better be careful because a girl could get used to this."  
"That's the plan. Did you tell your sisters you were moving out?"  
Paige had the grace to look sheepish. "Look, it just, it hasn't really been the right time. Things have been a little funky and..."  
Richard replied, "There's never a right time."  
"You don't understand. Piper will probably blow a major gasket and then we've got family obligations and like it or not, we're stronger together."  
Richard looked at his girlfriend, "You gotta do something for you."  
Paige's cell phone rang, breaking up the conversation.  
"Can I get that?"  
Paige nodded. Richard got the phone off the side table and handed it to Paige  
Glancing at the screen, she explained, "It's the house. Hello?"  
________________________________________  
-Manor Conservatory-  
Leo and Wyatt were sitting down. Leo was looking at the Book of Shadows as Paige orbed in.  
Leo glanced up startled, "Paige, when I said I needed you, I meant a fully clothed you."  
Paige brushed him off, "Oh, please, Leo. What's the big emergency?"  
Leo was grateful to get straight to business. "What would you say if I told you whoever attacked Chris was called a Phoenix?"  
"Well, I would say what's a Phoenix and then you'd probably tell me," was her response.  
Leo explained things to the youngest Halliwell sister, "They're a family of assassin witches who are very elite, very powerful and who were born with a distinct birthmark symbolizing the rise from Salem's ashes."  
Paige curiously asked, "Well, does the book say what they want?"  
Leo turned the book around to show the red haired the page on Phoenixes.  
He added, "Just whatever bounty they're after, which in this case is Chris. Which means they're still after him. They won't stop until they succeed."  
Paige began to look worried. "Did you call Phoebe and Piper?"  
Leo glanced down embarrassed. " No, Phoebe's at work and Piper came in kind of late so I didn't want to disturb her."  
Paige in turn looked awkward but her need for juicy details overcame her good sense. "Oh. Did she, um, come home alone?"  
"I don't know,' came the uncomfortable answer.  
At that moment, Piper breezed into the room.  
"Hey. Talking about me?"  
Leo spoke desperately wanting out the room now, "Morning, hi, no."  
He lifted Wyatt off his lap and handed him to his mother becoming more uncomfortable each second. "Uh, listen, Wyatt's been fed and I'm gonna get some coffee and Paige'll fill you in."  
With that said, the blonde was quick to exit.  
Piper was confused. "What's going on?"  
Paige replied quickly hoping to distract the eldest Charmed One. "Oh, Leo just found out that a coven of assassin witches called the Phoenix are after Chris."  
"So that's what you guys were talking about?" Piper queried suspicious of Leo's odd behaviour.  
Paige was reluctant to answer. "Yeah... in the beginning and then I just kind of asked him if you maybe came home with anybody."  
Piper simply nodded. "I see."  
Paige was unable to keep quiet. "Did you? Oh, come on, if a girl can't ask that what can a girl ask?"  
"Actually, uh, no."  
"I'm sorry, maybe he's just not the right guy," her sister tried to add supportively.  
Piper quickly disagreed, "No, it's not Greg, it's just me. It's just weird now that I'm a mum, I feel like I'm betraying Wyatt some how."  
"I think you're just betraying yourself."  
"Yeah, I know, it's just weird. So, uh, coven of assassin witches?"  
Paige understood the need to change the subject, "Yeah."  
"Maybe we should call Phoebe."  
Paige saw an opening to make her point. "No, I think we can do this by ourselves, I don't think you have to bother her."  
Piper slightly worried asked, "Well, what if we need the power of three after we find them?"  
Paige seized her opportunity. "Well, you didn't need the power of three to blow up the last one."  
"No, but..."  
Paige was determined to continue her argument. "So we need to try out this whole power of two thing, learn how to be flexible, right? So you stay here, I'm gonna go get the scrying crystal."  
That said she headed up the attic.  
________________________________________  
-An apartment-  
A woman wearing a blue shirt with short blonde hair answered the door. Piper and Paige standing outside in the passage.  
Piper was quick to greet her. "Hi, how's it going?"  
The woman asked guarded, "Can I help you?"  
"Hopefully."  
Paige tried a different approach. "Yeah, see, we just moved in from outer state and we wanted to get to know our neighbours."  
Not relaxing at all, the blonde woman responded, "Oh, well, welcome. Where did you move from?"  
Piper answered with a hint, "Phoenix."  
This was met with a change in the woman. "Really. Please, come in, come in."  
Not believing it had worked, Paige thanked her.  
Piper walked in first with Paige following close behind. The woman closed the door and discreetly locked it.  
"Wow, nice place," complimented Piper glancing around.  
Paige added her sentiments, "Yeah, real nice."  
Not trusting a word they had said the woman replied, "Thank you."  
A little girl with long brown hair ran in unaware of the strangers in her home.  
"Mummy, mummy, mummy, can I play with...?" she trailed off noticing two of the Charmed Ones at last.  
Her mother was fast in her reply, "Bianca, sweetie, can you give mummy a minute, okay?"  
As the woman held her daughter's hand, both Paige and Piper noticed the red bird on the little girl's wrist.  
"Okay."  
"Go and play with your toys. I'll be right in, okay?"  
The young Bianca responded with another, "Okay." And allowed her mother to escort her to her room.  
Turning to Piper, Paige asked, "Now what?"  
This was met with the woman turning around and throwing an energy ball at the girls. It flew past them and hit the wall. Piper then flicked her wrists blowing the blonde mother up.  
"The kid," The brunette instructed.  
Running into the girl's room, they get there in time to see the woman reform.  
Holding out her arms, she urged, "Hurry, Bianca."  
Grabbing her daughter, she shimmered them both out of harms way.  
Paige exclaimed shocked, "They can reform?"  
Piper shocked and worried added, "Apparently, which means the one that attacked Chris can too."  
Chapter Four  
________________________________________  
-Park-  
Chris orbed in slowly and sat down on his bench. He appeared to be in pain, clutching at his chest. Bianca walked out from behind a statue.  
Bianca was the first to speak, "You really shouldn't try to orb anymore, you know. It could kill you."  
Chris turned his face slowly towards her, "Is that what you want?"  
Bianca replied calmly, "If that's what my orders were, you'd already be dead. All I need to do is to bring you back."  
Curious, Chris asked, "How'd you know I'd be here?"  
"Same reason you'd know I'd be waiting here. This is still your spot, isn't it?"  
FLASH  
"Chris there's something I've been wanting to ask you for a while. Will you go out with me?"  
"YES"  
FLASH  
"I loved our first date."  
"I'm glad, Chris. I love it when you smile."  
FLASH  
"I…I love you, Chris."  
Happy, joyful laughter filled the air.  
"I love you, too."  
FLASH  
"Happy first anniversary, Chris."  
"Happy first anniversary, my love."  
FLASH  
"Will you marry me, Chris."  
"YES!"  
FLASH  
"Do you Christopher Perry, take this man to be you're lawfully wedded husband?"  
"I do."  
FLASH  
"Chris, why can't you see who he really is? You're not the first to fall in love with the wrong person."  
"You're wrong. I love him."  
FLASH  
Chris was silent. All the pain and memories he had buried came rushing to the surface.  
Bianca spoke as though she had received a reply, "You were naive to think you could change anything, to stop him."  
Chris finally spoke, "I don't believe that. I can't. He's all I have and I still love him."  
"Well, that's where you're wrong."  
Chris suddenly asked as another thought occurred to him, "What happened to you, Bianca? I thought you had finally become my friend not remained his servant. How did he turn you back?"  
Bianca dismissed his questions. "That's not important. What is important is that I was interrupted in stripping you of your powers. And if I don't finish what I started, you'll die soon. Think of it as an infection, and I'm the only one with the antidote.'  
"Here or there, I am dead anyway," Chris shrugged hiding his pain.  
Bianca shook her head, "No. He gave me his word he wouldn't hurt you. He still loves you. Please, Chris, don't make this any harder than it has to be."  
Without warning, Chris orbed away. Bianca shot out her hand in the hopes of catching him but she was too late.  
________________________________________  
-Manor, Living room-  
Piper, Phoebe, Paige and Leo were standing around facing each other as Paige and Piper related their news.  
Phoebe interrupted the retelling, "Wait, how old is the little girl?"  
Piper shrugged, "I don't know, four, five?"  
In the entranceway, their whitelighter slowly orbed in immediately falling to the wooden floor with a loud thump mid orb.  
Startled, Paige shouted, "Chris!"  
Chris tried to explain but only managed one word before losing consciousness, "Bianca."  
Leo lifted the unconscious brunette and carried him over to the nearest sofa. As he laid Chris on the couch, Leo unbuttoned his shirt revealing the large wound on his chest.  
Phoebe gasped, "Oh my god, what is that?"  
The elder was stumped, "I don't know."  
Piper pointed at Chris to emphasize her point, "It doesn't matter, just heal him."  
Coming out of his shock, Leo bent over and tried to heal the younger man.  
Paige asked the question on all their minds, "Why didn't he tell us about that?"  
Piper responded with the obvious answer, "Why doesn't he tell us about a lot of things?" She glanced over to see Leo frowning. "What's the problem?"  
Leo was now completely baffled, "He's not healing. Something's draining his powers and blocking mine. It's like a virus."  
Piper snorted, "A virus named Bianca."  
Phoebe questioned her sister, "You think she did this?"  
"It's gotta be."  
Paige added her opinion, "Yeah, but it doesn't explain why she would come back from the future just to kill him."  
Piper explained in a duh tone, "Well, somebody had to have sent her, she's a hired gun."  
Phoebe nodded. "Well, we have to find her to save him. Figure out what she did..."  
The middle sister trailed off slightly unbalanced. "Whoa."  
Leo was the first to ask, "What is it?"  
Phoebe moved closer to Chris and knelt in front of him by the sofa.  
Absolutely stunned she replied, "Oh my god, he cares about her and there's also a lot of love and I mean huge for someone else. Whoa."  
Paige couldn't keep track, "Loves who? Bianca?"  
The empathy continued, "Yes and no. It's like she was a trusted friend and betrayed him. He's definitely in love with someone else though. "  
Phoebe looked at Chris's hand and pried something from his fingers. Holding it up for the others to see, they were all shocked.  
"Wedding Ring."  
Paige voiced a question, "What do you think happened?"  
"There also seems to be a piece of leather here."  
Piper, "Well, at least we have something to scry for her now. She was wearing leather like that when I saw her earlier. You guys work on the vanquishing potion in case she's not in the mood to help."  
Chris: "Stop. Please stop."  
________________________________________  
-Apartment-  
Bianca walked over to a cupboard and started searching through it. The blonde woman form earlier shimmered in.  
"Who are you and what do you want?"  
Bianca ignored her questions and instead asked one of her own, "Where's the Grimoire?"  
The blonde created an energy ball in her hand threateningly.  
"One more time. Who are you?"  
Irritated and running out of patience, Bianca snapped, "Who do you think I am?"  
She held up her wrist showing the birthmark. "Mother."  
Her mother gasped, "Bianca." while extinguishing the energy ball.  
"In the flesh. Now where's the Grimoire? I have to get the Charmed Ones off my tail fast, I need a spell to do it."  
The blonde was still confused. "I don't understand, how is this possible?"  
"Look, I don't have time for reunions, okay? And I'm not about to make the same mistake a thousand other demons have made. Now where's the damn book!"  
Her mother waved her hand and the Grimoire appeared on the small table in front of them.  
"Thanks," she said picking it up. "Do you know where the inhibitions spell is?"  
"How is that gonna help?" came the confused question.  
Bianca was running out of time. "Look, I know the Charmed Ones, I studied their history. This is when they all want their separate lives. If I can release their inhibitions, maybe I can get them to pursue them."  
"The spell won't last long," her mother warned.  
"It doesn't have to. Just long enough to distract them so I can get what I came for." Finding the spell, she ripped it out of the book. "Got it. Thanks."  
Surprised, the elder Phoenix tried to stop her, "Wait, do you have to leave so soon? Can't I help?"  
Bianca turned back and looked her mother dead in the eye. "Yeah. Someday when I ask you what it feels like to kill, don't lie to me. Don't tell me you don't feel a thing."

Chapter Five  
________________________________________  
-Manor Living Room-  
Leo spoke quietly to Chris, "Hang in there, buddy".  
Piper walked in announcing, "We found Bianca, she's at her mother's."  
"Little Bianca?" he asked.  
Piper corrected him, "No, the one we want. Here, something for Chris to remember her by. Or not."  
Piper handed Leo the piece of leather.  
Paige walked in speaking, "Got the vanquishing potion so after we orb over there, I'm gonna..."  
A blue light washed over the girls.  
Leo couldn't understand why she had stopped in the middle of her sentence. "You're gonna what?"  
Paige replied with a completely reversed attitude, "I'm gonna move into Richard's house."  
Piper merely looked happy for her sister, "Are you? Good for you."  
Phoebe was also enthusiastic, "That's a great idea. And I think I'm gonna go check out what's going on in Hong Kong."  
"Cool," was all Paige replied with Leo looking on worriedly.  
Leo attempted to regain order, "Hang on a second, this isn't you guys. You must be under some kind of spell, you have to fight this."  
Phoebe tilted her head, "How can you fight your heart?"  
Piper was quick to add, "Or your hormones."  
"Yeah."  
"Will you drop me off on the way to Richard's?" the brunette asked her red haired sister.  
Paige answered with a smile on her face, "I would love to."  
Leo tried to interrupt, "Paige, Phoebe, listen to me."  
Phoebe merely waved. "Zay jen."  
Blue and white lights filled the room as Paige orbed out with Phoebe.  
"Hm," Piper uttered as she left the room.  
Chris mumbled in his delirium, "What do I tell them?"  
FLASH  
There were two people standing in the attic. It was dark and felt cold.  
A young brunette around Chris's age turned to him and answered, "Don't tell them anything. Just stick to your cover story. The less they know about the future, the better."  
"But what if they find out who I really am? You should be the one to go."  
"Chris, they won't. Not as long as you can pass yourself off as their Whitelighter. I have told you everything you should need to know. You're the best for this job."  
Chris was reluctant. "And you're sure I won't lose my powers when I go back?"  
His companion was confident, "Not with this spell, that's why we need it. Look, just remember, protect baby Wyatt and you protect the Charmed Ones. Keep them alive for our future."  
Chris grimaced, "Great. No pressure there."  
The other man walked to Chris, resting his hands on the future whitelighter's shoulders, "Chris, you know you're the only one who can do this. I love and trust you. You're the only one who can save us."  
Chris disagreed, "You can still go. I'll cover for you."  
"No. I know you think he won't kill you but you don't know that for sure. I couldn't live with myself if I got you killed. Besides they would probably recognize me and that would make this so much more difficult. We can't afford for my emotions to get in the way. This is too important. I don't still have the faith in him turning good that you do"  
Chris sighed, resigned and replied, "You really know how to motivate a guy, you know that?"  
The two walked over to a holograph of the Book of Shadows.  
They looked at each other.  
"I can summon the book."  
"No, Chris. We need him to find out about your involvement at the last possible second. He will only realize you're gone when he goes looking for you."  
Chris was uneasy, "You sure you want to summon the book away from him? I can do it. I'll be in the past. There won't be anything he can do to me."  
"No. We won't have much time once it gets here. His demons will be all over us."  
"I won't need much time. Just long enough to send me back to them."  
Chris picked up a piece of white chalk and started drawing on a blank wall in the attic.  
FLASH  
-Living Room back in the past-  
Chris was still lying on the sofa with Leo hovering above him.  
Chris continued mumbling under his breath, "We have to hurry, before he finds us."  
Leo looked to the ceiling and shouted, "Paige, Phoebe, get back here right now, that's an order."  
Piper walked in all dressed up.  
She spoke to Leo, "Wyatt's sleeping and the monitor's in the kitchen."  
Leo was stunned, "Piper, but you can't go anywhere. What about Chris?"  
Piper simply waved and said, "Wish me luck."  
Piper walked out the front door. A second later, Bianca shimmered in and kicked Leo in the head knocking him unconscious. She walked over to Chris.  
The Phoenix bent over Chris, placing her hand on his chest right above where she had begun draining his powers. "Come on, we're going home."  
With that, she shimmered out the manor with him.  
Chapter Six  
________________________________________  
Leo made a potion to counter act Bianca's spell and orbed away to collect the sisters. Meanwhile…  
________________________________________  
-Apartment from Earlier-  
Chris was lying on a sofa unconscious with Bianca's hand wrist deep in his chest.  
Bianca spoke quietly to the unconscious form, "Just let me finish what I started. You'll feel better soon, I promise. That's it. Easy does it."  
She pulled her hand out of his chest as the glowing stopped, "Slow breaths."  
Chris awoke slowly, "What'd you do to me?"  
"I just saved your life."  
Chris was angry, "By taking away my powers?"  
Bianca walked over to a wall and pulled off a picture frame. She then started drawing on the wall with chalk  
"How are you gonna bring me back, anyway? That spell's a one-way door. It only goes backwards in time."  
Bianca turned and answered him, "He created a new spell because of you. One that works both ways."  
Chris didn't look surprised, "I'm touched."  
"You should be. He's gone to a lot of trouble to get you back."  
"Yeah, I see that," he swallowed nervously suddenly realizing that he probably was going to have to go back. Back to him.  
"You know, you don't have to believe me, Chris, but this really is for the best."  
"Oh, really? How's that?" You could hear the sarcasm dripping off the words.  
Bianca merely shrugged, "Because this is your only chance to live. If I fail, he'll just keep sending more assassins back and all they'll have to bring home is a body."  
Chris shook his head, "Doesn't matter. There's nothing left in the future anymore, anyway. He's never going to change, not now and I'd rather die than live in that world anymore."  
He put a leather armband on the table. The one that Piper had returned to him. He remembered what made him give it to Bianca.  
FLASH  
"Why do you defy him?" his Phoenix bodyguard asked curious.  
"I am not a possession for him to do with as he pleases. I'm a human being, more importantly I thought he was my best friend and I his."  
"What's it like?"  
"What?"  
The phoenix was curious, "What's it like to have a friend?"  
"It's having someone you know has got your back. That you can trust and talk to no matter what and they won't betray you. Someone who really cares about you and not what you can do for them."  
"Sounds nice," Bianca replied wistfully.  
Chris got an idea and pulled a leather band out of his back pocket.  
"I know it's not much but it's for you. Your first present from your first real friend."  
The two sat and smiled at each other sharing their own little secret.  
After that, Bianca helped Chris. They put together a resistance under the radar. Bianca helped to pass messages. Months later, Bianca and Chris reached the conclusion that their best option would be to change the past.  
FLASH  
Bianca had changed so much. Chris couldn't believe it. She had helped him come back after all.  
FLASH  
Bianca completed the drawing on the wall and turned to Chris, " It's time."  
Chris shook his head, "I don't wanna go. I don't wanna leave you both."  
A brunette man stepped forward, "Chris we've been over this. It has to be you. If you can change the past, the future doesn't matter. What he does won't make a difference. You can do it. I know you can."  
He grabbed Chris in a bone crushing hug before standing back allowing Bianca to hug him too.  
Chris was worried, "Just make sure you take care of the guards, okay? Then get out of here. Because if he finds you two, if he knows you both betrayed him, he'll kill you."  
Bianca tried to reassure him, "Don't worry. I can take care of myself and so can Andrew."  
The three walked over to the hologram of the Book of Shadows. Chris pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Andrew.  
Taking a deep breath he recited form the paper, "I call upon the ancient power, to help us in this darkest hour, let the book return to this place, claim refuge in its rightful space."  
The Book of Shadows appeared on its stand.  
"It worked," Chris exclaimed  
Andrew was quickly paging through the book, "Find the spell, find the spell."  
Chris spotted the spell and stopped Andrew's paging  
He looked at his two close friends before casting, "Hear these words, hear the rhyme, heed the hope within my mind, send me back to where I'll find, what I wish in place and time."  
A portal opened where the triquetra was drawn. A demon shimmered in behind Bianca and grabbed her.  
"Bianca!" Chris shouted.  
Andrew stabbed the demon from behind and shouted, "Go! Go!"  
With one last look, Chris turned and ran into the portal.  
FLASH  
Chris was wondering, "You really expect me to jump into this thing like before?"  
Bianca shook her head, "Not without a fight, no."  
"How can you be so cold? How can you just stand there and pretend like we never meant anything to each other," Chris asked angry  
"I don't have a choice."  
Chris tried to plead with her, "Bianca, please don't do this. Don't give up on everything that we fought for."  
Bianca turned to him, "I'm not. I'm just hoping we can find another way. Ready?" she held out her hand expectantly.  
Chapter Seven  
________________________________________  
Piper, Phoebe and Paige orbed into the apartment.  
Piper took the situation in, in a second and shouted, "Hey, future girl."  
She threw a potion towards Bianca as Bianca threw a dagger and smashed the bottle in mid-air. Bianca shimmered out at the same time. Piper threw up her hands to freeze the dagger flying towards her as Bianca shimmered back in beside Piper, grabbed the dagger and held it against Piper's throat a split second later.  
The assassin quirked an eyebrow arrogantly and said, "You were saying?"  
Phoebe was in shock, "Wow, she is good."  
Paige took a step towards Piper.  
Out of the corner of her eye, Bianca noticed the move. "Uh-uh. I can kill her in half the time it takes you to even think about it."  
Paige attempted to bluff, "Yeah, we still have enough potion to vanquish you."  
Bianca knew them well enough to call her bluff, "Maybe. But then you really will have to hope the power of two will do. Won't you, Paige?"  
The sisters looked surprised. "You'd be surprised what's in the history books. Now put the vials down slowly."  
Chris stepped forward to plea with her, "Bianca, don't. Let her go and I promise I'll go with you."  
The youngest Charmed One was confused, "Chris, what are you doing?"  
Chris completely ignored her. "If you kill her, there won't be a future for either one of us to go back to and you know it."  
Phoebe looked at Chris, "What are you talking about?"  
Bianca smirked knowingly at them, stepping back slowly while lowering the knife, "You'll see if you live long enough."  
The Phoenix grabbed Chris and pulled him towards the wall.  
Paige got an idea and whispered to her sister, "Piper, freeze them."  
Piper lifted her hands and flicked her wrists attempting to freeze the room.  
"Uh, okay, I get why she didn't freeze but why didn't he freeze?" The oldest witch asked.  
Phoebe seemed to be ahead of her, "I don't- Unless… he's a..." she stuttered pointing at the whitelighter.  
Chris sighed and turned around resigned, "I'm a witch too. That's right. Part witch, part Whitelighter. Just like you, Paige."  
Paige was angry, "You lied to us?"  
The brunette was desperate to explain but had no time left, "I had to. It was the only way I could get you to trust me."  
"Trust you?" Phoebe exclaimed shocked by the idea.  
Chris shook his head, "Never mind, it doesn't matter anyway."  
Piper spoke overcoming her shock, "So that's it? You're just gonna leave?"  
"I don't have a choice. She stripped my powers." He had an idea and added, "Looks like Leo's gonna have to fix that floorboard without me. Let's go."  
Bianca turned and faced Chris, waved her arm and a portal opened where the chalk drawing on the wall had been.  
The pair walked through the portal, Chris feeling desperate and powerless, towards a future he had been trying to prevent.  
________________________________________  
-Attic in the Future-  
The portal opened and Chris and Bianca walked out of it. Six large demons were standing waiting for them. The attic was dark with barely any light showing.  
A deep voice came from behind the wall of demons, "Welcome home, Chris."  
The demons parted, allowing them to see a man with shoulder length, dirty blonde hair standing in the dark. He moved slowly into the light emanating the most dangerous and deadly vibes one could ever imagine. Chris stood frozen. He had been expecting this but he was still overwhelmed. The brunette recognized that voice, would know it anywhere even in the dark. It was from both his dreams and nightmares.  
Chris took a deep breath and when he knew he could speak, calmly spoke two words, "Hello, Wyatt."  
________________________________________  
-Attic Present Day-  
Piper, Phoebe, Paige and Leo were in the attic. Phoebe and Paige were looking through the Book of Shadows searching for some kind of answer.  
Phoebe muttered, "There's gotta be a spell in here somewhere."  
Paige was trying to keep up, "To take us to the future? I don't think so."  
Phoebe was quick to point out "Bianca's a witch, she could do it. How could she do it?"  
Paige felt useless, "We don't know how."  
Piper remembered something and asked the room in general, "How did we do it five years ago?"  
Leo explained saying, "The Elders made that happen, remember?"  
Piper turned to him and used her hands to emphasize her next statement, "Well, you're an Elder, make it happen."  
Leo shook his head, "That was a unique situation."  
"This isn't?" Paige demanded to know.  
"Hey, I don't like this either, don't you think I want to save him too?" Leo tried to defend himself.  
"I don't know if I want to save him or kick his ass," Phoebe added.  
Leo argued, "That still doesn't change all the good he's done."  
"Hmm, you're certainly singing a different tune. You've come along way, baby," Paige commented.  
The elder shrugged, "Okay, despite all his secrets, I still believe that he came back to protect Wyatt and that is enough for me to want to save him."  
"The question is, how?" Piper asked watching Leo pace.  
Leo stepped on the squeaky floorboard giving the sisters an idea.  
"Leo."  
Startled he turned, "What?"  
Phoebe picked up where Piper was going, "Fix the floorboard".  
Paige also started grasping what they were getting at, "Maybe he was trying to tell us something."  
Leo was the only one still in the dark, "Who, what?"  
Piper continued her line of thought, "Maybe. Maybe that's where Bianca was taking him. To the attic in the future."  
Phoebe was getting a headache, "But that would still be there in the future, wouldn't it?"  
Paige was following Piper's line of thought, "Yeah, unless we fixed it."  
"Or used it to send him something, something that he needed," the oldest Charmed One suggested.  
Phoebe was now confused, "Like what?"  
"His powers," Paige answered.  
Chapter Eight  
________________________________________  
\- Attic in the future-  
Wyatt walked slowly towards Chris. The brunette's breath hitched a little, noticeable only to Bianca who was standing next to him.  
Turning to the demons surrounding them, the blonde witch stated, "They're no threat to me." While flicking a hand, indicating that they were dismissed.  
One by one the demons shimmered out.  
"Et tu, Chris? Of all the people to betray me," Wyatt actually sounded hurt which was more emotion than Chris had seen from him for a long time.  
Chris instantly disagreed with him though, "I didn't go back to betray you, Wyatt. I went back to save you." Even after everything, he couldn't stand that Wyatt thought he would really betray him. The blonde meant the world to him.  
Wyatt looked perplexed, "Save me? From what?"  
The younger man shook his head slightly, "From whatever evil it was that turned you."  
As they had been talking Wyatt had slowly been moving closer and closer to them. Chris itched to reach out and touch him. Just one touch but he knew that if he did all would be lost. The whitelighter didn't think he would be strong enough to leave again.  
Soft, chillingly evil laughter was heard from the Twice-Blessed, "That's always been your problem, Chris. Stuck in the old good versus evil morass. I'm so past that. It's all about power, it's as simple as that."  
That said he reached out and laid his hand on the Book of Shadows. The real book and not the hologram.  
"And whoever has the most power wins, is that it?" Chris asked him sadly already knowing his answer.  
Wyatt nodded and spread his arms out to emphasize his point, "That's it. That's why I keep this museum in tact. To remind everyone the power from which I was born and that which I possess."  
Chris took a step towards the blonde as he spoke, "Too bad the rest of the city isn't fairing as well as your little shrine here."  
The older man looked him up and down. He had missed him. Even if they had been fighting before Chris had disappeared. Wyatt decided to change the subject, "You know if anyone else tried what you tried, I'd kill them on the spot. But you... I've forgiven Bianca, I can forgive you too. If you promise never cross me again. You will remain here with me. No more stunts. Rule by my side."  
Chris looked up at him, once again disappointed, "I think you know me better than that."  
Enraged Wyatt turned on Bianca, "I thought you said you could talk some sense into him."  
The brunette stepped in front of her, "Leave her out of this." Unfortunately this also put him within reaching distance of Wyatt.  
Wyatt raised his arm and wrapped a hand around Chris' throat. He squeezed until the young whitelighter was chocking, desperate for air.  
Quirking an eyebrow at the face slowly turning blue, he whispered, "Pardon me?"  
Wyatt flicked his hand and sent a gasping Chris flying across the room.  
________________________________________  
-Attic in the Present-  
Paige was hurriedly writing a spell.  
Phoebe stood next to her urging her on, "Hurry, hurry, hurry."  
The younger sister snapped irritated, "I'm trying, I'm trying."  
Paige tore off the page and handed it to Phoebe. Phoebe rolled it up and handed it to Piper.  
"There you go."  
Leo was kneeling on the floor. He pulled up the squeaky floorboard and looked up at Piper. She hurriedly threw in the paper with the spell and urged Leo, "Put it back."  
The elder quickly put the floorboard back in place.  
________________________________________  
-Attic in the Future-  
Chris flew across the room and smashed into a table.  
Bianca rushed forward and grabbed Wyatt's raised arm, "You promised you wouldn't hurt him."  
Furious, he turned to her, "You promised you'd turn him. It's like I turned you, or at least I thought I had."  
Bianca ran over to Chris. She knelt beside his body and pleaded with him, "Chris, please, I didn't bring you here to die."  
Chris groaned and muttered, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."  
Wyatt stepped on the squeaky floorboard drawing his attention, "I think."  
Chris ran towards Wyatt intending to tackle him. Unfortunately, Wyatt usually could tell what he was planning and caught him by the shoulders and yanked the younger man flush against him.  
Wyatt leaned forwards and whispered into the brunette's ear, "Have you lost your mind?"  
The blonde held both of Chris' hands behind his back with one hand while the other reached towards his face. Wyatt ran one finger gently down the side of his partner's face. A wedding ring flashed in what little light there was with the movement.  
Chris' eyes fluttered shut. This was what he had been afraid of. He had never really been able to deny the blonde anything for long. Wyatt's breath ghosted along his face as he spoke.  
"I've missed you. You need to stay here with me. All can be forgiven, Chris."  
Bianca sensing that Chris was loosing the will to fight back ran behind Wyatt and shoved her hand into his back. Chris dropped to the floor without his support and shook his head, coming out of his daze.  
"Whatever you're gonna do, do it fast. I can't hold him for long," Bianca urged him.  
Chris raced over to the squeaky floorboard and pulled it up. He pulled out the spell covered in years of dust and chanted.  
"Powers of witches rise, come to me across the skies, return my magic, give me back, all those taken from the attack."  
A blue light washed over Chris returning his powers. Wyatt turned around and kicked Bianca. She landed on a broken table leg, the wood piercing right through her chest.  
"No!" Chris screamed and for the first time in his life he used his powers on Wyatt. Chris waved his arm and Wyatt was thrown across the room. While the blonde was down, Chris rushed to Bianca's side.  
"Bianca. No, no, no, no."  
Bianca smiled painfully, "Haven't we been here before?"  
Chris tried and failed to smile, "Maybe we will be again."  
"Maybe."  
Bianca spoke softly, "If you can finish what we started... "  
Wyatt groaned, regaining consciousness.  
"Hurry. Take the spell so he can't send anyone else. Go," Bianca instructed him.  
Chris ran over to the Book of Shadows flipping to the page he needed. Wyatt slowly pushed himself off the floor.  
"Hear these words, hear the rhyme, heed the hope within my mind..."  
Wyatt threw a low level energy ball towards Chris and he ducked.  
"Send me back to where I'll find, what I wish in place and time." That said, Chris ripped the spell out of the book.  
The portal opened and Chris ran into it but not before he glanced behind him at Wyatt and whispered, "Please forgive me."  
Chapter Nine  
________________________________________  
-Attic in the Present-  
Chris went flying through the portal and landed hard on the floor with a THUMP.  
Paige ran towards him, "Oh my god, are you okay?"  
"Yeah, I'm fine." With help from the red head, he got up.  
Turning to the other sisters, he commented, "Nice spell."  
Phoebe was confused, "Yeah, but we just put it in there like two seconds ago."  
Leo stepped forward to explain, "Yeah, well, you see, the way time travel works..."  
The empathy held up her hand to stop his explanation, "Yeah, I don't wanna know, I already have a little headache. Thanks."  
Piper stood with her hands on her hips, "You have some serious explaining to do, young man."  
Chris had the grace to look ashamed, "I know. Listen, I'm sorry I lied to you. I really am, but..."  
The oldest brunette shook her head, "No, no buts. It's about time you tell us the truth, now."  
The young whitelighter sighed, "I can't. But not because I don't want to, but because there's only so much I can tell you without the future being changed too much."  
"Um, isn't that your whole point? To come and change the future?" Paige pointed out.  
He shook his head, "Yeah. But that was supposed to be more like a surgical strike."  
Leo nodded to Chris, "To save Wyatt."  
"To save Wyatt."  
Phoebe hesitated before asking, "What about Bianca?"  
Chris sadly answered, "Bianca won't be a threat to anyone anymore."  
"I'm sorry."  
"Me too. So you guys still alright with me hanging around here?" he asked hopefully.  
Looking at the sisters, Leo was the one to reply, "Absolutely. The next time you're in trouble you gotta tell us. Trust works both ways."  
"Okay."  
Chris walked out of the attic and down to Piper's room. Wyatt was in his playpen. Chris stopped and looked at him.  
"If I can't save you, I swear to god I'll stop you even though I still love you," he whispered brokenly before orbing away.  
________________________________________  
-Dining Room-  
Phoebe and Paige were sitting at the table as Piper walked in.  
"What's going on?" Phoebe asked as Piper sat down.  
Piper spoke slowly, "Uh, well, I've been thinking."  
Paige looked sheepish, "Uh-oh. Does that mean I'm in trouble?"  
"I think it's time we make some changes around here," the oldest suggested.  
Phoebe was curious, "What kind of changes?"  
"Like I think you should move to Hong Kong with Jason, and you should move in with Richard," Piper offered.  
Paige was quick to jump in, "I never said I wanted that."  
"You didn't have to, the spell did that for you. And you too," she replied nodding to include Phoebe.  
Phoebe was cautious, "Well, we can't leave you alone, we have to stick together."  
"No, I know, believe me, I know. But you can't keep sacrificing your lives forever and neither can I. Mum did that, Grams did it and even Prue. And look what happened to them. It's not a legacy I want us to inherit."  
"What if it doesn't work out, us going our separate ways?" the red head asked.  
Piper didn't really have an answer for that, "Well, we'll worry about it then."  
"You sure about this?" Phoebe asked needing to double check.  
"Yeah, I am."  
________________________________________  
-Golden Gate Bridge-  
Chris was sitting on the bridge, leaning against one of the sides watching all the lights and cars on the bridge below. It became blurry as tears filled his eyes and eventually losing the battle against them, they ran down his face.  
The young man couldn't believe how bad things had gotten. He wanted to go back, back to ignorance where he was at least happy for a time. The brunette remembered the first time he had met Wyatt. It had been a few weeks after he had made friends with Andrew whom had saved his life.  
FLASH  
"Chris, I can't wait till we get to my house. You can meet my whole family."  
"Are you sure it's ok, Andy? I mean they're the Charmed Ones."  
Andrew playfully bumped shoulders with Chris as they walked down the hallway at magic school towards the headmistress' office.  
"You already know the headmistress, my Aunt Paige. She likes you. You're sixteen, Chris. You should be over this fear of meeting new people by now," Andy teased trying to lighten the mood. He had no idea why Chris was so nervous.  
They arrived outside Paige's office. Andrew knocked once, heard his Aunt call out and walked in followed by Chris.  
"Hi, Aunt Paige."  
"Hello, Ma'am."  
"Hi, Andy. Chris you know you can call me Paige or Aunt Paige outside of class."  
"Ok…Aunt Paige."  
"We're going home now. You wanted us to get something first."  
"Yes," Paige said while pointing at a small pile of books. "Piper was looking for those.  
Andy walked over placing his hand on the pile and grabbing Chris with the other. "Ok, I'll give them to mom. Bye Aunt Paige."  
They reappeared in the living room of the manor.  
"We're here," Andy shouted to the house in general.  
A tall, blonde teenager waltzed into the room. Chris nearly stopped breathing. He had always known he was gay as far back as he could remember. Andy hadn't cared one way or the other. The teen before him was absolutely the hottest guy he had ever seen and his had almost itched to touch the blonde hair.  
"Chris, this is my brother, Wyatt. Wy, this is Chris, the friend that I was telling you about."  
On auto pilot, Chris reached out and shook the hand extended towards him. When their hands met, it was as if electricity had been jolted into his body and his eyes shot up to be caught in the bluest gaze he had ever seen. His shock and interest was reflected back at him in the gaze. Neither heard Andrew talking in the background as their eyes traced each other's faces trying to memorize every detail.  
FLASH  
After that day, Chris had never looked at another person with any interest. His entire being had been centered around Wyatt from then on. They had been so happy.  
FLASH  
Wyatt and Chris had been dating for three years now. Every year on their anniversary, they sat on their bench in the park. The same bench where Wyatt had asked him out the first time and where they had first admitted their love for each other.  
Tonight Wyatt was especially nervous, something Chris had immediately picked up on.  
He laid a hand on his partner's arm to gain his attention. "Wy, are you ok? What's going on?"  
Wyatt cleared his throat and moved to kneel in front of Chris.  
"I love you, you know that right? I felt drawn to you from the first day Andy introduced us. These past three years, I never imagined that such happiness could exist. Not a day goes by that I'm not happy you're in my life." He reached for Chris' hand and stared into his eyes.  
"Will you marry me, Chris?"  
"YES," Chris exclaimed before throwing himself at his fiancé tumbling them both to the ground.  
Happy, carefree laughter filled the night.  
FLASH  
A sob escaped Chris and he buried his head in his arms that were hugging his knees to his chest in an attempt to keep the pain suppressed. A part of him, the selfish part wished he had never had to confront the truth about his lover. It was the worst day in his entire life.  
FLASH  
It was their second wedding anniversary. Chris came home early to set up a surprise for Wyatt. The brunette snuck into the house with a shopping bag filled with his husband's favourite foods. He silently closed the door and then frowned when he heard raised voices coming from the living room.  
"You will swear allegiance to the Source, Zankou."  
Chris was immediately on alert. There was only one source that Chris knew and it was the Source of all evil. This was his chance to prove Andy and Aunt Phoebe wrong.  
He edged his way towards the entrance to the living room and froze in shock. The shopping bag crashed to the ground drawing the room's occupant's attention.  
Standing in the middle of the room was Wyatt. But this wasn't his Wyatt. This one was dressed in black complete with the Source's official black robes. His face was cold and hard. He looked like a killer.  
The demon, Zankou, was kneeling before Wyatt. Another upper level demon had his hand on Zankou's shoulder keeping him kneeling on the floor.  
There were only three people in the room. One of them was Zankou and the other, the demon that had spoken which left Wyatt. Chris' mind couldn't comprehend what he was seeing and hearing. Wyatt was evil. Wyatt was the new Source of all Evil.  
Phoebe and Andy had been right. He hadn't wanted to believe them.  
"Chris," Wyatt exclaimed completely caught off guard.  
"No, no, no, no…"  
The brunette shook his head and orbed away to Phoebe's house where he collapsed onto the ground sobbing and screaming his denial while she tried to comfort him.  
FLASH  
Chris stayed on the bridge for a long time crying out in pain. He had to fix it. He had to make things right. Wyatt hadn't always been evil and he was going to stop whatever it was that had turned him and destroyed his life and marriage.  
Chapter Ten  
-A day care centre-  
Children and their parents were playing games and having fun. Wyatt was sitting in the corner of the room all by himself. Piper was near by talking to a woman as Phoebe and Paige snuck in.  
Piper turned to the woman, "Excuse me." She walked over to her sisters and said, "Hi, thanks for coming."  
Phoebe was quick to respond, "Oh, of course, you know, anything for our little nephew. What exactly are we doing for our little nephew?"  
"Showing family support. They look for that, especially when the father's not around a lot."  
Phoebe was a little lost, "What are you talking about? Leo's around all the time."  
"Yeah, for Wyatt, but he won't be for the school, he can't be."  
Paige was trying to dial Richard again while they discussed Phoebe's recent break-up with Jason.  
Phoebe was trying to show them that she was ok, "Yeah, when you get to be my age, you can't spend the time crying over spilled milk, you know?"  
"Your age?" Paige asked suspiciously.  
"Yeah, the whole biological clock thing. It's very real and it's echoing. Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick."  
Piper interrupted them, "Okay, neurotic people, can we get back to my neurosis right now, please?"  
Phoebe decided to sooth her, "Sure. Which one were we talking about?"  
"The one where I'm a rotten mother who's raising an anti-social child."  
Paige nodded slowly, "Oh, that is ridiculous, and not true."  
While the sisters continued, Wyatt had stopped playing with his blocks. The next second he burst into blue and white orbs as he disappeared.  
________________________________________  
-Manor-  
Wyatt was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He watched a door appear in the wall halfway up the stairs. Piper, Phoebe and Paige orbed in and immediately made their way over to Wyatt.  
Piper was the first to speak, "You can not keep doing this, sweetie, really."  
Phoebe picked Wyatt up as Paige noticed the door.  
Paige tried to get her sisters' attention, "Oh, guys?"  
"Oh, what the... Oh, this is not good," was Phoebe's response.  
Voice was heard from behind the door, " Help!"  
Piper turned to Paige, "Orb him out of here. Go."  
Phoebe gave Wyatt over to Paige and she orbed out. The door opened and a bald man with glasses, and wearing a black robe walked out.  
Suddenly, the headless horseman appeared behind the man and sliced off his head with a long sword. The door slammed shut after he disappeared.  
Piper was horrified, "What the hell was that?"  
The man's head was lying on the stairs.  
The head relied, "That was the headless horseman."  
Phoebe placed the head on their table.  
"Yeah, can I just ask you one question? How are you still talking?"  
The man answered, "Yes, well, fair question. Uh, fortunately the rest of me is still at magic school, otherwise I'd be..."  
Piper interrupted him, "I'm sorry, magic school?"  
"Yes, that's right. Anyway, as I was saying, uh, as long as my body remains on grounds, I can't, uh, well, you know, die. It's all part of the magic thankfully. My name is Sigmund. But I'm afraid we don't have much time for pleasantries. I really need to get you back before he strikes again."  
Piper repeated slowly, "The headless horseman."  
"Right."  
Paige and Leo orbed in.  
Sigmund exclaimed, "Leo! Oh, so good to see you again."  
"Sigmund, what happened?"  
Sigmund explained the situation and that a man named Gideon had sent him to the Charmed Ones.  
Piper, Phoebe, Paige and Leo walked away from Sigmund to talk privately.  
Piper turned to Leo, "Just so you know, this is what's keeping your son from developing social skills."  
Leo was surprised, "What?"  
"I'm talking about our lives. We can't just drop what we're doing every time someone's head comes rolling down the stairs."  
"I don't believe you're saying this. You don't understand, this isn't supposed to happen. Magic school is supposed to be protected from evil. It's the only way Gideon can teach magic to the next generation, Wyatt's generation."  
"I think Wyatt is more concerned with nursery school right now then magic school."  
"Are you sure? Paige said he orbed back in front of the door. He was drawn to it."  
Pheobe interrupted them and reminded them that they had a problem and people to help. They could deal with their issues later.  
________________________________________  
-Magic School-  
Paige asked the question that was on all of their minds, "So how are we gonna find this dude Gideon, anyway?"  
Leo corrected her, "He's not a dude, he's an Elder, my old mentor, actually."  
Piper raised an eyebrow at that, "Really? You've never mentioned him before."  
"We met a long time ago when I first became a Whitelighter. He helped me out, took me under his wing. He actually fought for us to get married, to break the rules."  
"Really?"  
The group reached the end of the hallway that they were walking down and entered a library.  
Gideon's voice came from the back of the room, "Leo, good, thanks for coming. Although I do wish it was under better circumstances."  
"Gideon."  
"And the Charmed Ones. Lovely to see you again. Although you probably don't remember meeting me, you were just little girls."  
Piper looked at him questionly, " Leo?" as she handed Leo Sigmund's head in the pillow case that she had been carrying.  
"Gideon, I do believe your invisibility shield is still up."  
Gideon became visible and said, "I'm sorry, I'm just a little distracted with everything that's been going on around here."  
He explained to the Charmed Ones and Leo what had been happening around the school and why he needed their help. The sisters questioned if it could be a student.  
Paige asked, "So you find the student, you find the evil, right?"  
Gideon was quick to comment, "True, except you find much more than that here, Paige. The answers you each seek can be found within these grounds. You merely have to be open to them. Teaching will help you find the student in question, but it will also remind you of what you fear you have lost. Investigating our nursery school will help you with your worries over Wyatt," he turned to Phoebe, "And if you follow the wolf, she will lead you where you want to go, but be careful. The deeper you look, the more you will discover and the better chance you will have of saving all this."  
Gideon vanished.  
Paige had taken over a teacher's class and was confronting a group of teenagers while Phoebe was creeping down the hallway.  
"Here wolfy, wolfy, wolfy, wolfy. Come on. I know you're here somewhere. Here wolfy, wolfy, wolfy, wolfy."  
The wolf appeared and growled, "Oh, hi, hi, sweet wolfy. Okay, you don't have to attack me because Gideon sent me."  
The wolf turned and ran off.  
"Where are you going?"  
She chased after it, leading her to a cave. The wolf stopped in front of a fire and turned into a woman.  
The shaman, "Do you really think I lured you out here just to kill you, Phoebe? You have the power of premonition, but it's unreliable. Especially lately. I can help you see your future more clearly. If you're willing to take the risk."  
________________________________________  
-Manor-  
The headless horseman attacked the school again and succeeded in cutting Piper's head off. Leo and Paige decided to take her back to the manor in order to regroup and come up with a plan.  
Leo set Piper's head down on top of the T.V. cabinet.  
Paigestepped forward and spoke, "You know, maybe I should just go upstairs and check the book and see if there's a spell that can fix us."  
Piperreplied, "Or we can find the little child that conjured the horseman and vanquish it."  
Leoasked the two sisters, "You think that would reverse the spell?"  
"I'm hoping."  
"Yeah, I keep getting this weird feeling that it's one of the students in my class," Paige added  
"Why?" Leo asked unable to follow her line of thought.  
"Because who better to turn than one of the most powerful kids there."  
"What do you suggest?"  
"I think we should bring them here."  
"What?" Piper exclaimed rejoining the conversation.  
"Yeah, if we get them away from the school, they can't conjure the horseman. That way we keep them here long enough to figure out who it is."  
"I say it's not a bad idea since you're targets now," Leo added his opinion.  
"Uh-oh. Phoebe."  
"I'll go get her," Leo offered.  
"No. I do not want Wyatt to have two headless parents. Send Chris," Piper ordered.  
Leo nodded and orbed up to Wyatt's room where he sensed Chris.  
Chris was standing beside Wyatt's crib. His left hand was tickling Wyatt's stomach as the little blonde boy laughed. Leo stood watching for a few seconds before he cleared his throat making his presence known. It was a rare thing to see Chris smiling; even more so since he had come back from the future.  
"Hi, Leo," Chris greeted, pulling his hand back.  
"Chris, there's a headless horseman roaming magic school attacking the teachers. The girls need you to go and get Phoebe from magic school and bring her back here."  
Chris nodded his head in agreement and orbed out. He remembered something like this happening. Leo hadn't said but if he remembered correctly Piper had lost her head in an attack but the sisters fixed things like they usually did. He wasn't too worried, at least not yet.  
While Chris was collecting Phoebe, the headless horseman escaped magic school and then ran out of the manor into the real world with Paige and Gideon chasing after it. They arrived in time to see the horseman kill a man in an alleyway before Gideon could send it back to magic school.  
________________________________________  
-Cave-  
The shaman had given Phoebe something to drink to send her on a vision quest. Unfortunately, Phoebe kept getting attacked by demons in her vision.  
Phoebe fell to the ground coming out her latest vision.  
"Ow. Okay, you know what? Enough already."  
The young Shaman counseled, "Every journey requires a sacrifice."  
"My whole life is about sacrifice. If that's all my future holds, then I don't wanna see it."  
The other woman shook her head, "You're fighting it. Don't. Don't use your powers to get through. They're not working very well, anyway. Just let it come to you. Want it more than anything."  
Phoebe drank from the cup one last time and went into the vision. In the vision she walked down the stairs of the manor. She saw a screen of light in the room. A demon threw a fireball and it flew straight through her. The demon dived for Phoebe but he also passed through her. She walked towards the screen of light. Two more demons tried to attack her, but she ignored them and they passed right through her. She stepped into the screen of light and ended up in the conservatory. Two boys were there. One was playing with a Game Boy.  
Piper walked in and spoke to the blonde boy, "Wyatt, let your little brother play with the game too, please."  
"Little brother?" Phoebe whispered.  
Paige walked in wearing a long black robe.  
"Hey, Piper, can you take Phoebe to the doctor instead? I have so many papers to grade. Thank you," that said she walked back out the room.  
"The doctor?" Phoebe asked confused.  
"Yeah, we need to make sure our little niece is doing okay."  
Phoebe looked down to see that she was pregnant.  
The little brunette boy walked up to her, "Aunt Phoebe? We need your help."  
The vision ended and Chris was kneeling in front of Phoebe trying to get her attention.  
"Phoebe, can you hear me? We need your help. Are you okay?"  
"Uh, I don't know. Am I?" she asked the Shaman.  
"You tell me. What'd you see?"  
"Uh, I saw children, and my child. And a life without demons. Is that even possible?"  
"With your powers you know by now what is truth and what is not. Embrace those powers again, embrace your path and it will lead you there."  
"You don't know how much you've given me."  
"You should go. So you can use your powers to help save our school."  
________________________________________  
-Manor-  
Phoebe and Chris walked out of the magic school door that was by the stairs.  
Paige ran over to her sister, "Oh, Phoebe, I'm so glad to see you, I was worried."  
"What's the matter? Didn't you trust me?" Chris asked slightly insulted.  
Leo tried to assure him, "I'm sure she didn't mean anything like that, Chris."  
"How's Piper?" the middle sister asked.  
Paige winced, "You're not gonna like it."  
Leo answered for her, "She's been kidnapped."  
"What?" Phoebe and Chris exclaimed.  
"That's the bad news. The good news is that she's here, somewhere."  
"Well, if one of the students took her, I can't sense which one it is," Gideon said joining the conversation.  
Phoebe stepped forward and attempted to get a reading from the students frozen in the living room. She stopped before one of the students named Zach.  
"He's telepathing a whole lot of rage right now."  
Zach moved and commented, "Well, look who just solved the case."  
"Zachary?" Gideon was surprised.  
"What happened? Where'd he go?" Chris asked.  
Leo answered, "That wasn't Zachary, that was an astral projection."  
The group realized that Zack had been copying others' powers and had to still be somewhere in magic school. Paige and Phoebe went back to the school to try and find him.  
"You don't think he'll kill her, do you?" Paige asked referring to Piper.  
"You know what? I have no idea."  
"He's a smart kid. I just hope he's not luring us here."  
The headless horseman appeared and chopped off Phoebe and Paige's heads, then disappeared.  
Zach placed their heads on a table along with Piper's before vanishing again.  
"So who's bright idea was this anyway?" Piper was the first to speak.  
Phoebe attempted to defend them, "We were trying to save you."  
"Yeah, good job on that one."  
"And who went and got her head stolen?"  
"While you were off contemplating your naval, while you still had one."  
"Guys, we're not getting anywhere arguing," Paige broke in.  
Piper realized that they would need their bodies back before they could contemplate doing anything else. Together they came up with a spell.  
Paige asked hopefully, "You think the spell's gonna work?"  
"Well, now that we know who conjured the horseman, it should," Piper said sounding confidant.  
We won't until we summon him. So let's just put our heads together and... You know what I mean, right?" Phoebe added.  
They closed their eyes and the headless horseman appeared.  
"Okay, now, now, now."  
"Power of three unite, to end this grisly fright, reverse the rolls and make us whole," they chanted together.  
The headless horseman exploded and disappeared. Piper, Phoebe and Paige lay on the floor with their bodies re-attached to their heads.  
"Oh, thank god, it worked," Paige said relieved before looking at Phoebe who was patting her own body down. "You want me to get you a room?"  
"Let's go, let's go, let's go," the eldest Charmed One encouraged.  
________________________________________  
-Manor-  
They returned to find that Leo and Chris had orbed the students away. Gideon was lying on his back in the living room while Zach had an atheme to his throat.  
"Why take it out on others, Zachary? Why not just come after me?" Gideon asked pleadingly.  
"Because I want you to suffer, Gideon. Like you made me suffer ever since I got here. I want you to see your precious school destroyed. Bit by bit."  
"But that doesn't give you the right to kill an innocent."  
"You scolding me now? You gonna give me a demerit? That wasn't supposed to happen. I just wanted the sisters out of the way. The horseman's only supposed to hurt evil.  
"Evil? You think teachers are evil?" Gideon was shocked.  
"They are when they keep me here against my wishes. They take me away from my family, my home, without even thinking about what I want," Zach shouted.  
"Why didn't you come to me?"  
"I did, damn it! Every time I snuck out, every time I got in trouble. But you didn't care, you wouldn't listen."  
Paige decided to step into his line of view, "We're listening."  
Piper and Phoebe walked in behind her, "It's okay, we're not gonna hurt you."  
Phoebe held her hands up in a surrender position, "We're here to help."  
Paige continued talking Zach down, "See, sometimes magic takes us away from our lives as well, a lot more than we'd like it to."  
"But it's who we are whether we like it or not. We can't change that and neither can you," Piper added.  
Phoebe stepped towards him, "You have to accept it."  
Paige reached out for the atheme, "You have to realize this is not worth throwing your life away for. Just let it go. That's it. Easy."  
The dagger fell to the floor. Piper and Phoebe kneeled beside Gideon as Phoebe asked, "You okay?"  
"Yes. I just guess I've been more invisible than I realized over the years."  
________________________________________  
-P3-  
Piper and Phoebe were sitting at the bar when Paige walked up to them to let them know that Zach was back with his parents and had refused the offer to bind his powers.  
"He gave me a good idea about maybe doing it for somebody else," She added  
Phoebe glanced at her sister, "Richard?"  
"Yeah. You know, if he can't handle it, why should he have to? Maybe I can finally help him accept that."  
"You're gonna make a really good teacher one day, Paige," Phoebe said with a knowing smile.  
"Teacher?"  
"Yes, in Magic School. I saw it with my very own... vision."  
Piper joined their conversation, "Yeah, I don't think she's gonna be teaching Wyatt any time soon. Suddenly I'm more concerned about separating him from his family, than raising him as an only child."  
Phoebe looked down at the drink in her hand before saying, "Actually, there might be a day that you don't have to be concerned about that."  
Piper looked at her suspiciously, "What do you mean?"  
Phoebe spotted Chris across the room as he walked into the club. She hadn't had a chance to talk to him and got up off the barstool to go after him.  
________________________________________  
-Backroom/Piper's Office-  
Chris walked in wearily with Phoebe following him.  
"Hey," Phoebe greeted him softly.  
"Hey. So did you come here to kick me out or something?"  
The empath didn't understand why he would ask such a thing. "Uh, no, actually, I came here to ask you a question."  
"What?"  
"I need you to be honest with me. No games, no running away, just the truth."  
"Okay."  
Phoebe took a breath and asked, "Are you Wyatt's little brother?"  
Chris closed his eyes briefly, thinking about Andy before he answered carefully.  
"No, but he's one of my best friends. Actually, he saved my life."  
Phoebe took note of his pained expression, "You miss him?"  
The future whitelighter nodded, afraid to say anymore lest he give away anything else.  
"Okay. Thank you for telling me, Chris."  
Phoebe looked like she would say more so he stopped her, "Look, I've got to go." With that he orbed away to sit at the top of Golden Gate Bridge once again.  
Chapter Eleven  
-Manor-  
Phoebe and Paige were in the kitchen preparing things for Wyatt's birthday party later that day. Chris had said that Phoebe could tell Paige but not Piper so taking a breathe; she turned to her younger sister.  
"Paige?"  
"Yes?"  
"I found out who Chris is," she commented casually watching for her reaction.  
"What? Why didn't you say anything sooner? Never mind. Who is he?"  
The two were leaning on the island counter almost whispering.  
"Well, Piper and Leo have another son. He and Chris are best friends. Apparently before Chris turned sixteen, he was attacked by demons and would have died if Andy, Wyatt's little brother, hadn't saved his life."  
"Wow, but wait Piper and Leo aren't together anymore."  
"I know that's where the problem comes in. Their break-up was an unintentional side effect. In the future, Leo also became an elder but they never split up. They worked out some sort of a deal."  
"So we need to get Piper and Leo back together again?"  
"Yes and we need to do it this month."  
Paige was shocked. They had a lot to do and very little time.  
________________________________________  
-Manor. Foyer after Birthday Party-  
Piper, Leo and Wyatt were standing by the front door. Parents and their kids were leaving the manor. Piper was handing goodie bags to them as they left.  
"Here you go. Thanks for coming."  
"Thanks for inviting us, it was a fun party. I still can't believe that Wyatt is one already."  
"Bye."  
"I'll call you."  
"Okay, great."  
The last of the guests left and Leo closed the door behind them.  
"Phew. I am exhausted."  
Leo was holding Wyatt. Looking down at his son, he asked, "Did you have fun? Did you like it?"  
"Yeah, he was a really good boy and only made mummy freeze the room once."  
"He was excited. It's his birthday."  
"He was excited to see you. He misses you."  
"I know. I miss him too."  
Paige walked in from the kitchen.  
"Hey, you guys want anymore champagne? Come on, we don't want it to go to waste. How about it, dad?" she asked at the end of her rope on ways to get her sister and brother-in-law back together.  
"Elders aren't allowed to drink."  
"Oh, come on. When on earth you should do as earthlings do."  
"Sorry," he said shaking his head.  
Piper eyed her sister suspiciously, "Not that I'm complaining or anything because you guys did such great work. But champagne? Chocolate covered strawberries? Oysters? Aren't the kids a little young for the aphrodisiacs?"  
Paige tried to look surprised, "They're aphrodisiacs? Heh, who knew. Bubbly?"  
"Paige."  
"What? Oh, come on, there were milk and cookies here too. You know, maybe if-if there were more kids living in this house, I would know what to get. Did you ever stop to think about that? Excuse me."  
Paige turned on her heel and headed for the kitchen.  
Piper turned to her ex, "She's been weird since she changed her hair colour. She'll probably change it back."  
________________________________________  
-kitchen-  
Phoebe was already tiding up in the kitchen when Paige walked in.  
"Okay, forget about the strawberries, she's onto us."  
Phoebe spun around, "What do you mean? She knows about Chris and Andy?"  
"No. She knows we're up to something. I can't believe how hard it is to get two people laid."  
"Paige, that is disgusting."  
"Well, it's what we're trying to do, right?"  
"No, we are trying to romance Piper and Leo together so they can conceive Andy, our nephew and therefore save Chris' life too."  
"And that's different how?"  
"Well, because what you said is very Springer, what I said is very Oprah."  
"Oh. Well, whatever show we're watching, we're running out of time. At least Chris is. We should probably tell him."  
"Yes. Chris!" Phoebe called out.  
Chris orbed in looking at them expectantly.  
"Hey. So how's it going?"  
"Not so good.  
Chris began to panic, "What do you mean? What does she mean?" he asked turning to Phoebe.  
"We're running out of ideas."  
"Well, that's too bad because it has to happen today or Andy doesn't happen."  
"Wait, today?"  
Chris: Yeah. I did the math. And if he's not conceived by midnight tonight, that's it. Andy won't be born, which means I won't be coming back from the future to warn you about Wyatt turning evil since I'll be dead."  
"Yeah, see that time travel thing. Ooh."  
"Hey, what about making a love potion and just, like, slipping it to them."  
"No, we're not tricking them.  
"Why not? I'm desperate."  
"Hey, look, I have an idea. Call me crazy, but why don't we just tell them the truth?" Phoebe suggested.  
"Sure, let's give them a massive case of performance anxiety," was Paige's response.  
"We're already out of options."  
"And time," Chris adds.  
A crash suddenly was heard from the other room and the three ran out.  
A darklighter was running down the stairs and Piper was trying to blow him up. Leo was running towards Wyatt who was sitting in the foyer playing with his toys.  
"Wyatt!"  
The darklighter disappeared and reappeared beside Wyatt. He pointed his crossbow at Leo and shot. Leo orbed out and the arrow flew past Piper. Chris walked in first and the arrow headed straight for him. Phoebe and Paige walked in behind him and Phoebe pusheed Chris out of the way of the arrow.  
"Arrow!" Paige shouted orbing the arrow out and back into the darklighter's chest. Leo orbed in and picked up Wyatt.  
"I got you, I got you," he murmured against Wyatt's blonde hair.  
The darklighter disappeared and Piper walked over to Leo and Wyatt.  
"You're okay, you're okay," she added her reassurances to Wyatt.  
Chris was lying on the floor behind the dining room table. He looked up at Phoebe in gratitude, "Thanks for saving my life. Hope it wasn't for nothing."  
Everyone picked themselves up and made their way to the living room while Phoebe collected some blood from the floor with an eyedropper before she joined the others.  
Paige eyed the blood, "Is that enough to scry with?"  
Phoebe shrugged, "Only one way to find out."  
"At least he waited until after the party to attack. That was nice of him," Piper said sarcastically.  
Chris was slightly confused, "You know what I don't understand is why would the darklighter attack at all? I mean, with all of us here at the same time. It's suicide."  
"All the more reason to find him and stop him before he tries again."  
"I don't think he was after a Whitelighter, I think he was after me. Or Wyatt," Leo spoke up.  
"Well, then why don't you take Piper up there and take Wyatt too," Paige suggested.  
"Yeah, I'll go with you."  
Leo shook his head, "But you're not allowed."  
Piper sighed, "Alright, so then we'll go to the magic school. You'll be safe there, you can't be hurt, right?"  
"That's great. One big happy family," Paige exclaimed.  
"You change him, I'll pack him," Piper said to the elder.  
Piper and Leo, who was holding Wyatt, left the room.  
"Think now's a good time to tell them?" Chris asked  
"No. The sooner we take care of the darklighter, the sooner we make Andy," Paige was the first to answer.  
"I'm gonna start scrying," Phoebe stated as she got up and left the room.  
"And I will go start the love potion."  
"Wait, I thought you were against making the love potion?" Chris asked not following what was happening.  
"Not if it's gonna save one of my two favourite nephews and a friend."  
Chris looked at the clock in the hallway that read 3 o' clock.  
________________________________________  
-Underground Cave-  
Demons were there making weapons. A demon was pulling an arrow out of the darklighter's chest. The darklighter yelled in pain.  
The demon smirked at him, "Nice plan, my friend."  
"It worked, didn't it?"  
"Not yet it hasn't. Not until the witches come after you."  
"How come? They always do."  
"But will the Elder? I mean, now that he knows you're after him, won't he think it's too dangerous?" the demon was quick to point out.  
The Darklighter shook his head, "Not this Elder. He's blinded by fatherhood, by his unwavering desire to protect his son. He can't be sure I'm not after the boy too. He'll come. But he won't be immune to the poison. I'll need a dozen more for later."  
Another demon approached, "They're being forged as we speak."  
"You sure you're still alright to go through with this, Damien?"  
Damien the Darklighter answered, "A deal was struck, I was chosen. Besides, he deserves to get what he paid for, doesn't he? Leo out of the way. Just make sure the coat's properly prepared. We only get one shot of this."  
"Alright, arm up. But remember we're only supposed to distract the witches, not harm them. They're not the target this time. The Elder is."  
A figure in the corner slowly crept out unnoticed by all in the cave having heard the whole conversation.  
Chapter Twelve  
\- Magic School-  
Leo walked into the library looking for his old mentor, "Gideon."  
"Leo, what a pleasant surprise. How are you, my boy?"  
Leo shrugged, "I've been better. A darklighter attacked the manor, I think he's after me."  
"Are you certain?"  
"I don't know, he may be trying to get me out of the way to get to Wyatt. I dropped Piper and Wyatt off at the nursery, I hope that's alright."  
Gideon was already nodding his head, "Of course, absolutely."  
"Alright, I better get back to Phoebe and Paige, see if I can help."  
"No, you shouldn't, you should go back up with the other Elders where you'll be safe," Gideon almost snapped.  
"What about the darklighter?"  
" It's not your responsibility, that's for the sisters to handle, it's what they do."  
Leo sighed, "Alright, well, I can't just sit around while someone is after my son, I'm a father now."  
Gideon disagreed, "No, you're an Elder now and it's time to start acting like one. Don't you see? You don't just put yourself at risk by staying here on earth, you put all Elders at risk too. If they catch you, they get access to us all."  
"I know, but..."  
"You can't justify staying here any longer, not with this, not anymore. Stand to fully accept your calling, and the necessary transcends the sins of the flesh. Family, even fatherhood. One that requires you to cut the ties that bind for everyone's sake."  
"I can't. At least not until I know my son is safe. I'm sorry," with that said, Leo orbed out  
________________________________________  
-P3-Back room/office-  
Chris was there at the desk sorting through a number of cards.  
Clarence, the cleaner, stood in the doorway.  
"What are you still doing here? I thought you'd be out and about by now," Clarence commented.  
Startled, Chris looked up, "Clarence, hey. Didn't hear you come up."  
"You mind?"  
"Please, come in."  
"Beautiful day outside, isn't it?"  
Chris tilted his head to the side, "Is it? I never really noticed. I've been too busy, uh, rechecking something."  
"Whole world seems to be too busy now days. Nobody's got time to just enjoy their day anymore."  
"Well, it doesn't get any better in the future, either. I mean, I imagine."  
Clarence shrugged his shoulder, "Future don't mean squat to me. I'm too old to worry about it. Shouldn't to you either. You're too young."  
"Unfortunately, I'm kind of obsessed with it," Chris said as he threw down the card he had been holding.  
"You alright?"  
"Yeah, yeah, I just probably need to eat."  
"What you need is to get out of this hole. Get some sun, live a little."  
"Believe me, I'm trying," Chris responded slouching in his chair.  
"Do that," Clarence ordered before he left.  
________________________________________  
-Manor-Attic-  
Phoebe was scrying while Paige was making a potion. The potion exploded gaining Phoebe's attention.  
"I thought you were making a love potion?"  
"I am."  
"Then why did it blow up?" Phoebe asked laughing  
"Maybe I'm trying too hard."  
Phoebe quietly suggested, "Or maybe it just wasn't meant to be."  
"Phoebe!"  
"Come on, you weren't thinking the exact same thing?"  
"No. Okay, fine, but for like a second. The point is Chris is meant to be."  
"But not if he changed too much by coming here. You know, messed up his own timeline," the elder sister pointed out  
"We're talking about his very existence.""  
"I know, but there's only so much we can do. Especially now with that Darklighter out there. I just think that we have to face the reality that Chris's destiny might have been just to come here and warn us about Wyatt, and that's all and Andy's was to save Chris so that he could come back."  
Chris walked into the attic in time to overhear the last part.  
"Hey," Paige greeted as she spotted him over Phoebe's shoulder.  
"Oh my god, Chris, I'm so sorry," the empath apologized.  
"No, it's okay. I've actually been wondering the same thing."  
Paige was startled, "You have?"  
"Yeah. I've had the strangest feeling, like, I don't know, it's really hard to explain. But it feels like I'm, I'm floating, like I'm not really here, you know?"  
"Well, that doesn't sound good."  
"Well, you have to fight it, we still have time," Paige attempted to encourage him.  
"Not much."  
The scrying crystal stopped at a point on the map and spun around on the spot. All three stopped their conversation to stare at it.  
"I've never seen it do that before," Paige said, eyeing the crystal suspiciously.  
Phoebe shrugged, "Maybe that means there's more than one? I'll go get Piper."  
Phoebe left to the room to track down her oldest sister.  
"I'll go too," Chris offered.  
"No, you stay here, okay. Finish the potion, when we come back Leo and Piper will be in the mood," Paige said before she too left.  
________________________________________  
-Street-  
Piper's car pulled up and Piper, Phoebe, Paige and Leo get out.  
Piper turned back to her sisters, "You sure this is the place?"  
"Yeah, down that alley," Phoebe pointed  
"Thank god we didn't orb in."  
"Well, we couldn't. They would've know we were coming," Leo said.  
Piper added, "Maybe they know already."  
Phoebe looked at her, "What do you mean?"  
"I mean, since when to darklighters hang out in broad daylight like this? It could be a trap, maybe you should stay here."  
Leo disagreed, "No, I'm the bait, remember? Besides, if it is a trap, you might need me to help you orb back."  
"Well, I've got Phoebe, you get Piper out of here for Chris's... for Wyatt's sake."  
"Let's just do this. (They all walk down the alley.) I don't see anything."  
A darklighter appeared on the top of a building and pointed his crossbow at them. Piper saw him and blew him up. Two more appeared on top of the building.  
"You take Piper," Paige ordered Leo.  
Paige orbed out with Phoebe and they orbed back in on top of the building. They each threw a potion at the darklighters, vanquishing them. Damien appeared behind Phoebe.  
"Phoebe, watch out!" Leo shouted.  
Phoebe turned around and Damien hit her across the face with his crossbow. She fell off the roof and landed on a dumpster. Piper gasped. Damien disappeared and reappeared behind Piper and Leo.  
Paige shouted, "Behind you!"  
Piper and Leo turned around as Damien pointed his crossbow at them. Piper blew him up with a flick of her wrists. He caused a huge explosion which engulfed Piper and Leo. When the smoke cleared, Piper and Leo were gone.  
"Piper!"  
Paige orbed out and orbed back in beside Phoebe.  
"Phoebe? Oh my god, you're bleeding."  
"Yeah. Uh, maybe we should get me to a hospital."  
"Yeah."  
Paige helped Phoebe up, "I got you."  
Paige helped Phoebe to Piper's car and they drove off.  
________________________________________  
-Ghostly-plane Same Street-  
The street was completely deserted. No cars, no people, only empty buildings. Piper and Leo walked out of the alley shocked at what they saw.  
"Phoebe? Paige? Where's my car? What's going on? Where'd everybody go?"  
"That's a good question."  
"We'll, they gotta be here somewhere," Piper stated with determination.  
"I think we should get out of here."  
"No, not without Phoebe, she's hurt. Didn't you see her fall?"  
"Yeah, but at least she's alive," Leo pointed out.  
"What is that supposed to mean?"  
"I don't know, but I think weneed to get off the street while we figure this out."  
Piper had a thought, "The hospital. If Paige couldn't get to you, she'd take Phoebe to the hospital. Memorial's just down the street."  
"But Piper, you don't understand, we can't worry about them right now. We need to worry about us."  
Behind them, Damien walked out of the alley.  
"Leo," Piper grabbed his arm getting his attention.  
Damien was surprised to see two people, "Piper, you're not supposed to be here."  
"Yeah, well, you're not supposed to be here either. At least not in one piece."  
Piper tried to blow him up but her powers wouldn't work.  
Leo took Piper's hand, "Come on."  
He tried to orb out but couldn't.  
"What's wrong with your powers?"  
Damien loaded his crossbow and lifted it to aim.  
"I don't know. Run. Go, go, go!"  
Piper and Leo turned and ran off down the street.  
Damien shouted after them, "You can run but you can't hide! You're in my world now!"  
________________________________________  
-Cave in the Underworld-  
A figure was standing in the shadows watching the demons and darklighters when another Darklighter appeared.  
"The plan is working. Damien has the Elder but he also managed to trap the oldest sister, Piper."  
Murmurs and cheering swept the cave. The figure moved along the shadow and left the cave. Now was the perfect time for his plan. The Charmed Ones and their whitelighter would be distracted and not paying attention. With his plan now in place, the figure shimmered out.  
Chapter Thirteen  
-Underground Cave-  
A demon was yelling at a Darklighter while a figure hid in the shadows, unnoticed and gathering more information.  
"What part of don't hurt the witches didn't you understand?"  
"What was I supposed to do? They'd already killed three of us," the Darklighter tried to defend himself.  
"So what? You're expendable. We all are for this. It's bad enough one's wounded now but none of them were supposed to end up there, none of them. We were only meant to separate the Elder from his protectors, to make the witches fear he'd died so they wouldn't try to look for him," the demon's voice got louder and louder until he was screaming.  
"Still, just because she's with him doesn't mean she can protect him. No one has powers in the ghostly plane, that's why Damien wanted him sent there."  
"But that's not the point now, is it? Damien may be forced to kill her now too, and that was specifically not what he was hired to do. Worse, the other witches may be less inclined to accept the death of a sister than of a brother-in-law. Especially with their history."  
The Darklighter replied with a smile, "All the more reason for us to keep them distracted. At all cost now."  
________________________________________  
-Hospital Room-  
A doctor was looking at Phoebe's x-rays.  
"No broken bones, no internal bleeding, other than a mild concussion, I'd say you are a very lucky woman."  
"Great! Does that mean I can go home now?" Phoebe asked impatient.  
"Actually, I think I'd like to keep you here overnight just for observation."  
"Oh, no, that's not possible."  
"Ms Halliwell, I don't have to remind you, you took quite a fall. It's possible you might have more than just a concussion. Sometimes other symptoms don't develop for twenty-fours hours."  
"Yeah, well, I don't have twenty-four hours. I gotta go, gotta go," the young empath argued.  
"You'll have to sign a release."  
She waved a hand dismissively, "That's fine."  
"If you feel any dizziness or light headedness, call me. Otherwise I'll see you in a week to remove the stitches."  
"Thanks."  
The doctor left as Paige walked into the room.  
"Phoebe. Hey. What'd he say? Are you alright?"  
"Yeah, well, he's releasing me, isn't he? Okay, don't worry about this, Paige, we're gonna figure something out."  
"Okay, but what about Chris?" the youngest sister asked getting an idea.  
"What about Chris?"  
"Well, what if he doesn't exist anymore because his best friend's mum and dad don't exist anymore."  
Phoebe shook her head, "No, if Piper were gone, I would sense it, I know it."  
Paige indicated the chaos around them, "A truck hit a bus."  
________________________________________  
-Ghostly plane – Hospital-  
Piper walked in to find nobody around, "Phoebe? Paige?"  
Leo ran in behind her, "They're not here, I'm telling you."  
"They have to be here. Phoebe's hurt."  
Leo disagreed, "Not in this plane, she's not. The blast, when you blew up the darklighter, must have knocked us into this other place. One that co-exists with our world but not with our lives."  
Piper was confused. "What are you talking about? What world?"  
"I don't know. I don't think we're here by accident, I think this is part of the darklighter's plan. To have us here without our powers and without your sisters."  
Piper called out again, "Phoebe!"  
________________________________________  
-Hospital Real World-  
Phoebe and Paige were walking down the hallway past a patient that flatlined.  
"We're losing him. Two hundred and fifty CCs of lido. Flat lining. Come on, come on. Did anyone call the driver's family? Still got no pulse. Paddles. Two hundred joules."  
A nurse shouted, "Charging."  
"Clear!" the doctor ordered.  
________________________________________  
-Ghostly plane-  
Piper walked down the hallway of the hospital as Leo ran up behind her.  
"Piper, we've gotta keep moving, we can't stay here. Damn it, Piper. I don't want you to get hurt too."  
"Okay."  
They turned around and saw the bus driver, "Am I dead?"  
"Leo, what's going on?"  
The driver looked at them, "Leo. Are you an angel?"  
The driver disappeared.  
Leo looked at Piper, "I know what plane we're on. The ghostly plane."  
________________________________________  
-The hospital, Real World-  
The doctor called out, "He's back. Stabilising."  
The driver slowly regained conciousness.  
"Sir, do you know who you are? Do you know your name?"  
Phoebe turned to Paige, "Let's go."  
"Leo. Leo. Must be an angel," the driver murmured.  
Paige muttered, "Leo?"  
________________________________________  
-Ghostly Plane-Hospital-  
Piper had been hit in the arm with an arrow. Leo was fighting with Damien. He knocked Damien to the floor and ran to help Piper up.  
"Come on," Leo urged her as they ran.  
________________________________________  
-Manor-  
Phoebe and Paige orbed to the manor debating all the places that Piper and Leo could be. Chris walked slowly down the stairs.  
"Uh, Phoebe, Paige?"  
"Chris, you're okay," Paige sounded relieved.  
"Which means Piper and Leo are okay," Phoebe added.  
"Well, I don't know about that but I'm, uh, definitely running out of time here," that said, Chris held up his arm which was fading away.  
Phoebe and Paige headed up to the attic to search for an answer.  
After a quite some time, Phoebe slammed the Book of Shadows shut and groaned.  
Startled, Paige looked up, "What?"  
"I don't know what else to try."  
"What do you mean?"  
Phoebe threw her hands up in the air, "What do you mean, what do I mean? There's nothing else to try."  
"Oh, great. Why don't you try telling that to Chris as he fades away."  
"No, I can't."  
Paige crossed her arms and looked at her sister, "Right, well, here's the deal. You felt Piper, so that means she's gotta be out there somewhere, and if we can figure out where, then maybe we can figure out how to bring them back. You said we weren't gonna lose her."  
Phoebe's mind drifted back to the hospital visit, "The bus driver."  
'The bus driver what?"  
"Well, he was dead, right? I mean, at least for a little bit, so maybe that wasn't a coincidence, maybe he actually did see Leo in limbo."  
Paige looked excited, "That's good. No, that's bad because that would make them dead."  
"Not if someone put them there. Like the darklighter."  
"The one Piper vanquished?"  
Phoebe was quick to point out, "Unless it wasn't really a vanquish, it was just made to look like a vanquish."  
She looked back down and flipped through the Book of Shadows, "Okay, ghosts. Ghosts, ghosts."  
________________________________________  
-Ghostly Plane-P3-  
"This should stop the bleeding," Leo commented as he bandaged Piper's arm.  
"Thanks. Uh, I rather imagined meadows, waterfalls, maybe even a harp."  
"Well, this isn't the afterlife. It's a place before that to ease the transition," the elder explained.  
"Mm-hm. Lucky us we're stuck here. That is until our friendly darklighter helps us move on permanently."  
Leo was determined, "Well, we're not gonna let that happen. We've been through a lot more than this."  
"Have we?"  
"Are you kidding? Ever since we met it's been one ordeal after the other."  
Piper smiled, "Wow, you make it sound so romantic."  
Leo laughed, "It's not what I meant. I mean, look at everything we've been through, everything we've overcome. This is just one more thing. This isn't where it ends. I promise."  
"Alright, so how do we get out of here?"  
"I don't know. I gotta figure the darklighter has a way, maybe a portal."  
Piper was confused, "Masked by the explosion?"  
"Maybe. Although somebody's gotta be helping him with a hell of a lot more powers than a darklighter."  
"Do you think the portal's still there?"  
Leo nodded, "Probably. Question is, how do we access it without our powers?"  
"We make Phoebe and Paige use theirs. I'm serious. We're on the ghostly plane, so why can't we, you know, haunt them? Make contact like other normal ghosts do," Piper suggested.  
"Because not all other ghosts do. It takes years to learn how to cross over. Besides, you need a connection."  
"A bond? You mean like sisters? Come on, I know them, I know they're looking for us, and I know they were at the hospital. I can't explain exactly..."  
Leo touched Piper's uninjured arm, "You don't have to. Far be it for me to question the Power of Three after all these years."  
"Okay, so let's go. They'll be at the house at the Book of Shadows."  
"It's probably where the darklighter will be waiting for us. He knows us, he's studied us."  
________________________________________  
-Manor-Living room-  
Chris was now completely transparent and walked straight through a wall, "Whoa, not good."  
Clarence appeared in the entrance hall, "It's almost time, Chris."  
Chris hid behind one of the living room walls, "Clarence. What are you doing here?"  
"Actually, I've come for you. It's okay, son, I know."  
"Who are you?" he asked, coming out from behind the wall.  
"Someone who was sent to make this easier for you."  
"This? What do you mean this?" Chris demanded.  
"I think you know."  
Chris became scared, "You're an angel of death."  
"Yours is an unique situation, Chris. One which requires special handling. That's why I wanted to meet you early. So you could get to know me, trust me. There's really nothing to be afraid of."  
Chris replied with his usual sarcastic wit, "Yeah, that's easy for you to say."  
"Don't fight it, Chris. It'll only make it more difficult for you."  
"No. Forget that, alright? I still got time. You stay away from me."  
Chris ran upstairs to Phoebe and Paige.  
________________________________________  
-Attic-  
Phoebe lit a circle of candles sitting on the floor.  
"Are you sure a séance is the right move?" Paige asked her sister.  
"Well, if they are stuck in the spirit realm, then they're ghosts, right?"  
"Hopefully."  
"What, now you're a pessimist?"  
"Hey. A girl's allowed to vacillate, it's not like this is an exact science, right? Okay, the spell is done," Paige informed the empath.  
"Okay, let's do this."  
Chris walked in, "Sorry, I don't mean to be pushy but..."  
"Yeah, we're working on it, we're working on it."  
Paige commented, concerned, "You don't look so good. Okay. "Sister's spirit I call to thee, cross on over so we may see."  
Chris disappeared  
Phoebe was surprised, "Wait, that wasn't supposed to happen, was it?"  
"I'm thinking no."  
________________________________________  
-Ghostly Plane-Attic-  
Leo turned to the brunette, "Okay, now what?"  
Piper shrugged, "I don't know, I guess we try to make contact."  
She closed her eyes and Chris appeared.  
Leo was shocked, "Chris?"  
The eldest Charmed one opened her eyes, "Not exactly who I was going for but I guess it'll work."  
"What are you doing here?"  
Chris glanced around, "Ceasing to exist I think," and disappeared.  
________________________________________  
-Real World-Attic-  
Chris reappeared.  
Phoebe asked, "What happened? Where'd you go?"  
"I just saw Piper and Leo."  
________________________________________  
-Ghostly Plane-  
Piper looked around her, "Where'd he go?"  
"I don't know."  
Chris appeared again, "Ask him."  
Piper turned to the young whitelighter, "What are you talking about? What do you mean ceasing to exist?"  
"No time to explain. I'm a connection to your sisters and they wanna know how to get you guys back."  
________________________________________  
-Real World-Attic-  
Chris informed the sisters, "They think somebody made a portal for the darklighter to pass through."  
Paige asked, "Somebody who?"  
Two darklighters appeared behind them.  
Chris shouted, "Darklighters!"  
________________________________________  
-Ghostly Plane-  
"Chris, where are you?"  
"Shh, not so loud," Leo cautioned her as an arrow flew through the window and hit Leo in the shoulder. It went through his shoulder and came out the other side.  
"Leo? Come on, come on."  
They ran out.  
________________________________________  
-Real World-Attic-  
Phoebe and Paige threw potions at the darklighters, vanquishing them.  
"Piper's not here anymore, I can't sense her," Phoebe informed them.  
Chris looked at Phoebe and Paige sadly, "It's too late, and not just for Piper and Leo. Take care." And he vanished for good.  
"Chris?" Paige called out hesitantly.  
________________________________________  
-Ghostly Plane-Alley-  
Leo was tapping the wall, "If there is a portal it's gotta be near by."  
Piper sat down, "No, what are you doing?"  
"I'm trying to save you."  
"You mean, you're trying to save us, don't you? Look, you need to sit down. Maybe since the arrow went straight through..."  
Leo walked over and sat beside the brunette, "It'll just take longer. They'll find a way."  
"How? We never even had a chance to tell them where to meet us," Piper pointed out, feeling powerless.  
"They'll figure it out. I know them."  
"In time?"  
"Look, Piper, no matter what happens..."  
"No," she shook her head to emphasize her disagreement.  
"You have to keep trying to make contact."  
"I don't wanna hear it."  
Leo tried to reason with her, "He's not after you, he's after me."  
"Would you please stop trying to save me?"  
"I'm sorry I got you into this."  
"Yeah, just one ordeal after another, right?"  
Leo reached out and touched her face, offering comfort.  
"I never stopped loving you."  
Neither knew who moved first, their lips and hands tracing familiar paths as they kissed  
________________________________________  
-Magic School-  
Phoebe and Paige went to see Gideon for help. They had run out of ideas and were hoping that the elder might know what to do. After explaining the situation to him, he gave them a book on portals and how to find them and also bring Piper and Leo back. The pair left in a hurry, their energy returning as they formulated a plan.  
________________________________________  
-Ghostly plane-Alley-  
Piper was asleep sitting against a wall. Leo stood standing up near by. Piper woke up and looked around for Leo.  
"Morning," the wounded elder greeted.  
"What are you doing?"  
"Just trying to sense them."  
"Any luck?"  
Leo shook his head, feeling slightly dizzy.  
"You don't look so good," Piper commented worriedly.  
"I know. Listen, about last night…"  
"I don't have any regrets if that's where this is going," Piper cut him off.  
"It's not. But I'm glad you said that. Because I don't either. I just want you to know that I don't have any expectations. Because I know everything that you went through when I became an Elder. And it just, it wouldn't be fair to put you through that again."  
"I'm not sure I understand."  
Leo moved closer to her and sat down again, "Well, neither one of us wanted me to become an Elder. But I did anyway. I was supposed to go up there right away but I didn't."  
"Because you wanted to find out who Chris was and to protect Wyatt."  
"They're not the only reasons I didn't go up there, Piper. I was holding onto you. And because of that I put you at risk and I put my son at risk. I can't let that happen anymore, I won't let that happen."  
Damien walked around the corner startling the pair, "Well, fortunately you won't have to worry about that for much longer. I'm a little surprised actually. Didn't really think you'd come back here. Thought I knew you better than that. Oh, well."  
He pointed his crossbow at them.  
Leo stood in front of Piper, "Let her go, you don't want her."  
" No, but I can't pass up my opportunity can I? It's in my nature. Besides, I wouldn't want a Charmed One coming after me when this is over."  
They heard traffic noises and suddenly they were back in the alley as they left the ghostly plane. Phoebe and Paige standing at the entrance, waiting for them.  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you because this time I'll vanquish you for real," Paige warned him.  
"Well, it's about time," Piper exclaimed  
Phoebe wanted to know something, "Who sent you?"  
A darklighter appeared on the roof and shot his crossbow and hit Damien in the chest. Damien screamed before he could answer and was vanquished. Chris reappeared completely shocked.  
"Yes! I'm back!" he shouted.  
Phoebe was confused, "Wait. What? How is that possible?"  
"Don't ask me, ask..."  
Leo fell backwards next to Piper.  
"Them."  
"Paige, come on, quick, we've got to get him to Gideon," Piper instructed her sister.  
Paige orbed out with Piper and Leo while Phoebe took the car and Chris orbed to P3.  
________________________________________  
-P3-Back room-  
Clarence walked in, "Looking good."  
Chris spun around, panicking, "Whoa. Wait, what are you still doing here?"  
"Don't worry, you're fine. I just wanted to say good luck."  
"Thanks. Hey, just out of curiosity, why did you tell me all that stuff about living life and enjoying my day if you were coming for me all along?"  
"Just in case I wasn't leaving with you. You've been given a second chance, Chris. Don't waste it," that said Clarence disappeared.  
Chris orbed to the manor.  
________________________________________  
-Manor Living Room-  
Phoebe was sitting on a sofa, winding down when Piper walked past the room.  
"Piper? You back already? How's Leo?"  
Piper froze before slowly turning to look at her, "umm… Leo's fine. I really should go check on Wyatt. Reassure myself, you know."  
"Oh ok," Phoebe replied slightly confused.  
Piper turned and headed upstairs to Wyatt's room.  
Two minutes later, Chris orbed in and shortly after that Paige, Leo and Piper orbed in.  
Phoebe was startled, "Piper weren't you just upstairs with Wyatt?"  
Piper was confused, "No. We just got back from Magic School."  
The words were barely out her mouth as Chris orbed up to Wyatt's room. Everyone else ran up the stairs to follow.  
________________________________________  
-Wyatt's Room-  
Chris appeared to see the Piper look alike holding Wyatt. The Charmed Ones and Leo skidded to a stop in the doorway, everyone afraid to move.  
Wyatt was looking between the Piper holding him and the one in the doorway with confusion.  
Slowly Chris held out his hands and called out, "Wyatt"  
Wyatt turned to look at Chris and immediately orbed into Chris' waiting arms.  
The second Wyatt orbed Piper ran forward and blew the imposter up. They all crowded around Chris and Wyatt to reassure them that he was ok.  
"That was way too close," Paige muttered.  
Piper reached out and took Wyatt from Chris; cuddling him close to her while Leo hugged the both of them.  
"This is ridiculous. How are we supposed to stop the bad guys when we can't even tell the difference between them and us? Please tell me it gets better in the future," she asked turning to Chris.  
Chris winced and answered without thinking, "Sorry but you guys have always had problems with shape-shifters. A demon looks like a demon but shape-shifters have impersonated you all many times."  
Piper looked up at them, "There has to be a way to tell the difference."  
Paige stared at the wall as an idea began to form in her mind, "Let me think about it tonight and tomorrow we can see what we can do."  
Paige, Phoebe and Chris filed out the room, leaving behind Piper, Leo and Wyatt.  
Piper turned and put Wyatt back down. Her back still to him, she asked Leo, "So when are you leaving?"  
Leo walked up behind her and hesitantly touched her shoulder, "Never if you think we might have a chance and you want me around. We're still short on elders so I'll make a deal with them. If not then, I'll quit and go back to being a whitelighter."  
Piper turned to face him, "Really?"  
Leo reached up and cupped her face, "Really. I'm here to stay if you want me."  
"Yes."  
She reached up and kissed him. Happy and looking forward to the future for the first time in a long time.  
________________________________________  
-P3-Backroom-  
Chris sat on his bed looking at a photograph. It had been taken at his and Wyatt's wedding.  
FLASH  
Wyatt kissed Chris gently as the camera flashed. Laughing, they pulled away and smiled at each other. Wyatt slid an arm around Chris before calling out.  
"Calling all Halliwells. Everyone get over here. We need a picture with the whole family."  
The Charmed Ones, their spouses and all their children crowded around the newly married pair. Everyone was smiling and laughing.  
"Alright if you can all look this way and keep smiling," the photographer said, gaining their attention.  
The entire family turned towards the camera, smiling as another flash went off.  
FLASH  
Chris smiled softly as he traced the faces of the family in the photo. This was what he was fighting for. Six months after the wedding, Piper and Leo had been killed. According to Aunt Phoebe it had made Wyatt snap. He had always had a temper but it was the final straw. Paige and Phoebe had researched and down a spell to pin point when things with Wyatt had gone wrong. It had led to before Andy had been born but they hadn't been able to remember anything that had gone majorly wrong. They had been killed before they could go back and figure it out.  
Chris, Bianca and Andy had discussed it and reached the conclusion that whatever had happened had lay dormant in Wyatt until Piper and Leo had been killed. It had probably leeched out a little giving Wyatt his famous temper which was worse than Piper's.  
The future whitelighter sighed and pulled out another photo. This one was of just him and Wyatt. Wyatt had grabbed him and kissed him as the camera had gone off. Their new wedding rings were clearly visible as they wrapped themselves around each other.  
No matter what, Chris resolved he was going to save his husband.  
Chapter Fourteen  
Chris lay in bed not entirely awake. He was warm and the bed was soft and comfy. Lazily, he blinked back sleep and found a pair of blue eyes sparkling with amusement staring down at him.  
"Wyatt," the brunette whined, " were you watching me sleep again?"  
"You looked happy and peaceful, Chris," Wyatt replied, running his fingers through  
his partner's brunette locks.  
Chris watched as a mischievous smirk he knew only too well crossed the blonde's face. Immediately, he tried to wriggle away.  
"Wyatt, no."  
Said man's smirk grew before he pounced and proceeded to kiss and tickle him until all the breath had left Chris' body. The room was filled with laughter.  
With a groan, Chris woke up on the sofa in the backroom of P3. That had been one of his fonder memories of Wyatt. His husband had been in such a good mood. He had only later learned the cause. The evening before Wyatt had wiped out two covens and left no survivors to oppose him, not even a child.  
Chris rolled off the sofa and dressed for the day. He had been planning to investigate in the underworld further when he heard Piper call out.  
"Chris, could you come here please."  
________________________________________  
Piper woke in her now reconciled husband's arms with a smile on her face. Eagerly she got up, dressed and headed for Wyatt's room. Once her son was ready, she made her way down to the kitchen to make a large family breakfast.  
The others in the house woke to an assortment of delicious smells. One by one, they made it to the dining room where the table had been set. Piper walked in with a large pot of coffee  
"Sit, sit," she instructed.  
Just before the eldest brunette entered the kitchen, she turned.  
"I'm inviting Chris to breakfast as well."  
Paige and Phoebe grinned. Piper pulled the croissants out the oven and then  
called for their young whitelighter.  
"Chris, could you come here please."  
Seconds later, blue and white orbs appeared as Chris formed  
in the kitchen.  
"Morning, Piper."  
The eldest Charmed One stepped forward, placing a tray of muffins in his hands.  
"Morning, you're just in time for breakfast."  
________________________________________  
For the first time in months, Chris thoroughly enjoyed a meal. Piper had made a feast and everyone had been chatting and laughing. Once the table and kitchen had been cleaned, they all headed up to the attic.  
Paige pulled out a pad and pen, handing them to Phoebe.  
"Ok, I thought about our problem with shifters. We need a way to tell who is really family, a way that the demons and everyone else won't know about," the youngest sister spoke.  
She pointed at Phoebe's shoulder. "Almost like a tattoo but  
one only we can see."  
Leo thought about it and then smiled. "That might actually work. Even a shape-shifter won't be able to duplicate it if it's specific to a family and can onlybe seen and done by the family."  
Phoebe twirled the pen between her fingers.  
"It would have to be worded right to affect us and only us. Hmmm... I think I've got it." She wrote the spell out before handing it to Piper. The brunette read it over before nodding. Together the three sisters recited their spell.  
"Prudence, Patricia, Penelope, Melinda,  
Astrid, Helena, Laura and Grace  
We call forth through space and time  
Matriarchs of the Halliwell line  
Mother's, daughters, sisters, friends  
Mark all now that we may see  
Family and those who imposters be"  
Simultaneously they all hissed and rubbed at their left inner wrist. Wyatt whined and Leo ran to pick him up, not noticing he too now had a mark on the inside of his left wrist.  
The sisters looked at their own wrists. On each of their left wrists was the triquatra. Woven around it were the runes for protection, family and love. Above the triquatra was their own name and in Piper's case underneath was her husband, Leo's, name.  
"Did it work?" Leo asked, not seeing anything different.  
"Yeah, can't you see anything?" Phoebe asked, holding up her wrist.  
Leo and Chris shook their heads.  
"You only included direct family in that spell," Chris explained.  
"Which is why it worked on Wyatt and not Leo," Piper concluded.  
Paige frowned, "That's only half the problem solved. We need to include spouses."  
Piper thought for a minute before writing a spell that the three of them read.  
"Prudence, Patricia, Penelope, Melinda,  
Astrid, Helena, Laura and Grace  
We call forth through space and time  
Matriarchs of the Halliwell line  
Mother's, daughters, sisters, friends  
Mark all now that we may see  
Halliwell spouses and those who imposters be"  
Immediately, Leo grabbed his wrist and looked down. He now had an identical mark to Piper's.  
Suddenly, Chris hissed and grabbed his own wrist. The Charmed Ones and Leo, still holding Wyatt, looked over at their young whitelighter utterly confused.  
The brunette from the future tugged up his sleeve and gazed at his wrist. There in black was the triquetra identical to that of the sisters except below it was his name and there sitting above the triquatra was Wyatt's name.  
Phoebe grabbed his wrist and held it against Wyatt's wrist to compare them. They were identical except that Chris had his name on his while Wyatt's was blank underneath. New memories flooded Chris' mind  
FLASH  
"It's a mark that everyone in the family has. Children are born with it. It's tradition since my mom and aunts created it for spouses to receive it on their wedding day," Wyatt's voice echoed.  
FLASH  
"Prudence, Patricia, Penelope, Melinda,  
Astrid, Helena, Laura and Grace  
We call forth through space and time  
Matriarchs of the Halliwell line  
Mother's, daughters, sisters, friends  
Mark Christopher that we may see  
Wyatt's spouse and those who imposters be"  
FLASH  
"You're a Halliwell now, family mark and all."  
FLASH  
Chris stared at his wrist before looking up at the shocked faces surrounding him.  
"Oh shit," he breathed, wondering how he was going to explain this one.  
Chapter Fifteen  
Piper looked form the wrist that Phoebe was still holding to her son's exposed wrist.  
"Chris… Why do…. How…?" she trailed off, unsure of how to even voice her question.  
The future whitelighter tried to step back and orb away but Phoebe and Paige and both anticipated that and were grasping his arms preventing escape.  
"Oh no, you don't. You, mister, have some explaining to do," the empath told him.  
Chris sighed. To be perfectly honest, he was tired. Tired of lying, half-truths, hiding things and especially acting as though they weren't his family.  
"Ok, but you have to understand. There are still some things I can't tell you."  
Piper took charge of the situation.  
"Let's move this to the living room where we can all get comfortable.  
________________________________________  
Chris sat in an armchair facing the sisters and Leo while baby Wyatt played on the floor. He rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair. Taking a deep breath, he looked up and began to explain as best he could to the shocked people before him.  
"Firstly, you were never supposed to find out. I was going to save Wyatt then return to the future. You would only have figured this out years later."  
Paige spoke up, "Yeah, but Chris sometimes keeping secrets aren't a good thing."  
"I know, believe me. I know which is why I'm doing this now. It's not as dangerous now to tell you some things as it was when I first arrived."  
Suddenly, Chris fidgeted, feeling uncomfortable. His gaze dropped to Piper's stomach. Phoebe caught his look and smiled.  
"I can tell her that part, Chris," she offered, gaining confused glances form Piper and Leo and a knowing smile from Paige.  
Grateful for the short reprieve, he nodded his consent. Phoebe turned to herolder sister and Leo.  
"Ummm… We know what happened in the spirit realm between the both of you," she declared hurriedly trying to get to the point indicating herself, Paige and Chris.  
Piper sputtered, "What… What are you talking about? Nothing happened."  
Leo in the meantime had a different question.  
"How could you know anything that happened?"  
Paige attempted to help her sister.  
"Because in a way, Chris wouldn't be here if it hadn't."  
The young man in question was quick to jump in.  
"I'm not your son, however, you, Piper, are indeed pregnant.  
The eldest Charmed One lay a hand on her stomach.  
"How could this happen? I know how," she snapped when it seemed that they were about to answer her question, "But wha…oh… What am I going to do?"  
Leo wrapped his arms around the panicky woman.  
"We are going to love him/her and raise them with their older brother."  
The expectant mother looked up at Chris, "What does this have to do with you and that mark on your wrist?"  
"When I was fifteen, I met them. They saved my life."  
Paige laughed, "Just tell them it's another boy. You're going to drive us all crazy using gender neutral terms."  
Leo smiled, "Another son."  
Chris shook his head in exasperation.  
"Yeah. I met Andy one day in the park. There was a demon attack and they managed to knock me out. If Andy hadn't come when he had and vanquished them, I'd have been killed. We were best friends from that day on. I transferred from public school to Magic School and you all practically adopted me.  
My mom was killed by demons when I was eight and my father was an elder that that moved on so I was forced to love with my aunt that hated magic. I ended up boarding at Magic School.  
When I was sixteen, Andy introduced me to his older brother. From the moment I laid eyes on him, that was it for me…" his voice softened.  
"Aww, that's so sweet," Phoebe cooed.  
Piper watched their whitelighter.  
"It was Wyatt, wasn't it?"  
He nodded slowly. She let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding before indicating to Chris to continue.  
"Two months after we met, he asked me out. We had a spot. It's this bench by the angel statue in the park. He asked me out there. It's where many of the major things in our relationship happened."  
Paige stared at Watt's parents before cautiously asking, "How you guys feeling about this?"  
Leo sighed.  
"We have the next sixteen years to get used to it. Continue, just give me sometime to process before you want an opinion. It's not something I had thought to deal with."  
"Yeah," Piper exhaled, "On the one hand, it's a surprise to find out my son is gay before he has even hit puberty. On the other, it's nice to know that he does end up with someone who isn't a demon or trying to get his powers, turn him evil etc. Keep going, Chris."  
"Well like I said you all practically adopted me. After three years, Wyatt asked me to marry him. We married when I was nineteen and Wy had just turned twenty-one. Now this is a new set of memories that just came with the mark.  
In creating this mark," he said, showing his wrist, "You three created a new tradition for the Halliwell family that was adopted by all magical families and covens. Each family now has their own mark that only they can see. Shape-shifters are all but non-existent in the future.  
Children are born with the mark but spouses only receive it on their wedding day after the exchanging of rings. Which is how I got mine. A few months after the wedding though, Piper and Leo were killed," ignoring the horrified looks, he continued wanting to finish his story.  
"As long as I knew him, Wyatt always had a volatile temper but after your deaths it's like he snapped. He never hit me. Came close a few times. There was also a new Source on the rise that nobody could identify. Phoebe and Andy tried to tell me that it was Wyatt but I wouldn't believe them.  
I mean how could the love of my life be that evil? I guess the old cliché is true. Love really is blind. And deaf too.  
One day I came home early and found Wyatt, this upper level demon named Zankou and another demon, never did learn his name in the living room. Zankou was swearing allegiance to Wyatt. I was horrified and ran to Phoebe and Paige. It hurt so much that I could have been so stupid.  
Wyatt found me and dragged me back home. After that, he didn't bother to hide anymore. The whole world went straight to hell quietliterally. Magic was exposed, entire covens were wiped out in a single night. Wyatt took over San Francisco. Bianca was assigned as my bodyguard. We became friends. She helped Andy build theresistance and passed messages between us.  
We cast a spell to see where things started to go so wrong to try and fix it. Something happened to Wyatt before Andy was born. Aunt Phoebe thought it might have lay dormant only quietly reaching out, fueling Wyatt's temper until his parents death, when all bets were off. Phoebe and Paige were killed before you could come back.  
Andy elected to send me to get me away form Wyatt. He could escape to the resistance but Wyatt and I have this bond. We can sense each other's location no matter where we are, and usually if we're not hiding we can feel strong emotion as well. So basically I came back to save my husband from becoming the Source of All Evil."  
Silence met his explanation. The brunette once again fidgeted, the nerves reappearing having no idea how they were all taking everything he had said.  
"This is all so much," Piper whispered.  
The others nodded their heads in agreement. Wyatt chose that moment to attempt to get Chris to play with him having had enough with being ignored.  
"Cwis, p'ay."  
The whitelighter picked baby Wyatt up and sat him on his lap.  
"Sorry little guy, but I can't play right now."  
Phoebe watched the two interact.  
"Isn't that weird?" Paige asked curiously.  
Chris looked up at her.  
"Truthfully it took a little getting used to but I love him. He's still Wyatt, just different. So I love him differently to my husband. He certainly is adorable though," a smile tugged at his lips.  
"How did we die?" Piper asked one of the biggest questions on their minds.  
"I can't tell you that. It could change the future in even worse ways."  
"How?"  
"You could be killed younger. All of you could be killed together."  
"Or we could not be killed at all," Paige chipped in cheerfully.  
Leo was the one shaking his head his time.  
"Chris is right. In trying to prevent something, it might just make things all that much worse."  
"So my son is gay and the Source of All Evil, just to be sure that I didn't misunderstand everything?" Piper spoke slowly.  
Chris nodded and pulled a photo out the back of his jeans pocket, handing it to Piper.  
"That's the two of us at our wedding," he explained as the others all leaned over to look at it.  
"So what now?" the young whitelighter asked hesitantly.  
Piper looked up at him, determined, "Now we save Wyatt."  
Chapter Sixteen  
Nearly eight months later and Chris was ready to pull out his hair in frustration. Ever since that Witch Wars situation roughly three weeks ago, he had hardly slept. They still had no idea who turned Wyatt and while they were looking into Phoebe's theory that it might actually be someone close to them at this moment, they still had nothing. Chris knew that it hadn't been the demons running Witch Wars despite Gideon's insistence.  
Two months ago in desperation, Chris had cast a memory spell so that he could keep both his old and new memories in order to be able to tell if what they did, and the demons that they vanquished, made a difference. So far, despite everyone's best efforts, there had been very little change in the future. Wyatt was still The Source. The most that changed were just the demons that he had put in charge in accordance with which ones they vanquished in the past.  
Nothing! That was what he basically had to show for over a year's worth of working in the past. While he had finally told the sisters that something happened before Andy was born, he hadn't told them that Andy was born early. It might have made Piper stress further and go into labour even earlier which would have caused even more problems for Chris; and that was not something he could deal with right now.  
And now, now his time was up. Today was the day. D day, and he had failed. Chris sighed in despair, before orbing to the Manor to attempt to eat breakfast before all hell would be breaking lose.  
________________________________________  
Phoebe walked down the stairs and into the dinning room, stopping abruptly at the sight of their young whitelighter. Paige unfortunately, lost in her own thoughts, didn't see Phoebe stop until it was too late to stop the collision and ran smack dab into her, tumbling them both to the floor.  
"Guys, you ok?" Chris asked as he hurried over to help the two up off the floor.  
Once they were on their feet, the pair turned their attention to their nephew-in-law.  
"Jeez, Chris. What happened to you?" Phoebe asked extremely concerned.  
She knew that the search had been taking its toll on him but not like this.  
Paige nibbled on her lower lip as she watched Chris flush and look away in embarrassment.  
"I… uh… I'm just really stressed and worried," he spoke quietly, sounding defeated.  
"Why don't you sit down and eat. At least worrying on a full stomach is better than not eating," Paige teased hoping to get some sort of a rise out of him.  
Breakfast was quieter than usual. The sisters and Leo took turns to shoot the silent Chris looks of concern. Once breakfast was done and the dishes washed, Piper decided that she had had enough of the awkward silence surrounding Chris.  
Walking over to him in the living room, she touched his shoulder to get his attention.  
"Chris, what's going on?" Piper asked quietly.  
Chris' shoulders tensed at the contact. He didn't know how to explain to them. Before he could come up with something, he heard a gasp from behind him. Quickly he spun around.  
Piper was clutching her stomach, slightly bent over. Putting an arm around her, he led her to the closet sofa.  
"LEO, PAIGE, PHOEBE," he yelled.  
Feet stopped down the stairs and from the kitchen as the three reacted and came running at Chris' shout.  
"What?"  
"Where's the demon?"  
"Chris, what's wrong?"  
Two seconds later, they noticed Piper sitting hunched over on the sofa.  
"Piper?"  
"The baby."  
"The baby's early,"  
Chris whistled to cut through everyone's babbling effectively shutting them up.  
"Piper's in labour. She needs to get to the hospital. Someone needs to grab her and the baby's bags."  
Leo rushed to help his wife off the sofa and to the car. Almost out the door, he stopped abruptly.  
"Wait, what about Wyatt?"  
"I'll stay here with him," Chris offered, indicating with his hand to Leo to keep moving.  
Phoebe and Paige ran back downstairs from where they had gone to collect the bags.  
Chris picked Wyatt up from inside his playpen, walked to the door and waved to Leo, Piper, Paige and Phoebe as they drove away to the hospital.  
________________________________________  
Out of habit, Chris carried Wyatt up to the attic, orbing his playpen up ahead of them. He put Wyatt down and walked over to the Book of Shadows. Paging through the book, he sighed again.  
"I'm so sorry, Wy. I couldn't save you," he whispered staring blankly at he pages before him.  
Obviously whatever had turned Wyatt had somehow already gotten to him since Andy was now hours away from being born. Something had gotten past him, Leo and the sisters without them realizing it. Chris still refused to believe that Wyatt could be evil on his own. Something or someone had to have turned him.  
A floorboard creaking broke into his depressing, self-wallowing thoughts. Chris looked around the room, noticing nothing out of place, shrugged and resumed his paging. That is until another floorboard creaked. Now he knew something was going on.  
"Hello," Chris called as he quickly made his way in front of the Book of Shadows, glancing sideways at Wyatt ensuring that the little boy was still safe.  
Another creak and Chris' body readied itself for a fight.  
Suddenly out of nowhere, he was flung backwards, landing on the floor with a hard thud. At almost the same time, the unseen assailant revealed himself.  
"Gideon?" Chris exclaimed, utterly shocked and horrified that it all was beginning to make sense.  
The future-whitelighter sprang his feet and ran at the elder to try and move him away from the playpen where Wyatt was standing, watching everything wide-eyed.  
"Don't make me kill you too," Gideon pleaded.  
Chris charged. Gideon had been prepared for such a move. As the brunette reached him, the elder wordlessly summoned an enchanted athame and lightening fast plunged it unhesitatingly, straight into Chris.  
Chris gasped, his knees immediately buckling. Gideon lowered him to the floor, stepped over his body and walked to Wyatt. Chris rolled over and looked up in time to see him picking Wyatt up.  
"Leo," he gasped, desperately hoping that the blonde elder would hear him.  
Orbs descended, rapidly forming the called elder who took in the scene in front of him with shock.  
"Wyatt," Chris gasped, drawing Leo's attention to Gideon holding Wyatt.  
"I'm sorry, Leo. It's for the greater good," Gideon informed him before orbing away where no one would be able to detect him.  
Leo dropped to his knees beside Chris, attempting to heal him.  
Chris briefly closed his eyes and then coughed, spitting up blood.  
"It won't work. Gideon enchanted the athame. His magic did this to me. He has to reverse it," Chris whispered before coughing up more blood.  
Paige and Phoebe, worried about Leo's sudden disappearance, orbed to the attic and froze at the sight that greeted them.  
"Chris!" Phoebe screamed, running to their downed whitelighter.  
"Leo, heal him," Paige ordered.  
"I can't. Gideon, he, enchanted the athame and took Wyatt," Leo explained almost sobbing.  
Despite Chris' rocky start with their family, he was now considered a Halliwell. They had all grow very close over the last few months. To Leo he was another son, to Phoebe and Paige, another nephew.  
Chris was struggling to breathe. It hurt so much. The only one with any hope of reversing Gideon's magic was the older Wyatt, but he was evil and about twenty odd years in the future. Chris choked on some blood as he coughed up more. He felt himself slipping and only had enough energy to form one last thought and shove it through his newly reopened bond with his husband.  
I'm sorry, Wy  
Phoebe and Paige sobbed as Chris choked again, and then quietly sighed one last breath as his heart stopped beating.  
Chapter Seventeen  
-Attic in the Future-  
Wyatt sat in the dark staring out the window at the destroyed city before him. He had his empire but at the moment it left a decidedly bitter taste in his mouth. Things had gone so wrong. He was still furious with Chris for going back to the past. Lost in his musings, it took him a few seconds to realize that something was going on. Wyatt frowned and tried to pin point the source of the disturbance. His frown quickly turned to panic when he realized that for his husband had reopened their bond.  
There was no way that Chris would have done that unless he was truly desperate. Wyatt was already up and moving to the Book of Shadows when he heard it.  
I'm sorry, Wy  
It was Chris but he sounded like he was in pain and the message was incredibly faint. Almost as if he was dying, but that couldn't be right. Chris wasn't allowed to die. This spurred Wyatt into action. Without a moment's hesitation, the Source of All Evil made his way to the triquatra that was still drawn on one of the walls.  
"Hear these words, hear the rhyme, heed the hope within my mind,  
Send me back to where I'll find,  
My husband in his needed time," Wyatt chanted, making the spell up as he walked towards where the portal formed.  
The triquatra glowed and expanded, creating the portal. Without hesitation or a thought besides the fact that his partner desperately needed him, Wyatt walked through the portal.  
________________________________________  
-Attic in the Present-  
"Leo, he's not breathing," Phoebe chocked.  
Leo once again tried futilely to heal Chris. Failing again, he fell back on his long forgotten medical training and attempted to get Chris breathing by doing CPR.  
None of them noticed the glowing portal forming on the wall behind them. Paige sensed something behind her, turned to look and saw a large figure step through the portal.  
He was tall with shoulder length dirty-blonde hair. He was dressed completely in black and was giving off vibes that made her, one who had faced countless demons, want to run and hide under her bed.  
She reached out and grabbed her sister, gaining Phoebe's attention.  
"Wha'?"  
Before Paige could even form a sentence, they were roughly pushed out the way as the stranger ran to their whitelighter, falling to his knees upon reaching him.  
Wyatt walked into the past and took a second to absorb the scene before him. His aunts and father were all kneeling on the hardwood floor around another figure. Tears staining all their faces. His heart clenched. Chris. Without another thought, the blonde ran over to Chris pushing his aunts out his way in order to reach his spouse. The sight that greeted him sent him to his knees and robbed him of his breath.  
Chris was lying on the ground, paler than Wyatt had ever seen him. There was blood everywhere. It seemed to come from a wound that looked suspiciously like a stab wound in the brunette's stomach.  
Wyatt glared up at his father, who had suspended his attempts at CPR.  
"Why haven't you healed him," Wyatt demanded.  
Leo responded, not registering that the person who had spoken was an unknown, "The athame was cursed. I can't heal it."  
Wyatt growled, sneering to cover his panic. He couldn't lose Chris. He couldn't! No matter their disagreements, or the fact that Chris had run twenty years into the past to escape him. Laying both his shaking hands on Chris' bleeding stomach, Wyatt mentally felt for their bond.  
Please, oh please let this work  
Wyatt pleaded with whatever deity could hear him that his spouse would survive.  
Looking down at his hands expectantly, the blonde felt his heart stop as he saw that it wasn't working. Chris was dying, and he didn't seem able to heal him. He needed Chris to wake up. The brunette had sacrificed so much it wasn't right that he had to forfeit his life as well.  
Closing his eyes, Wyatt concentrated on Chris and healing him. Memory after memory flashed before his eyes.  
"Chris, this is my brother, Wyatt. Wy, this is Chris, the friend that I was telling you about."  
Chris turning around, his face lighting up with a smile upon seeing Wyatt.  
"Will you marry me, Chris?"  
"YES," Chris exclaimed before throwing himself at his brand new fiancé, tumbling them both to the ground.  
Chris laughing, tugging Wyatt onto the dance floor at P3.  
"Happy Anniversary, Wy"  
"I love you, Wyatt Matthew Halliwell. Now and Forever."  
"Do you Christopher Perry; take this man to be you're lawfully wedded husband?"  
"I do."  
Curling up in bed on a rainy day, tugging Chris closer in his arms. Chris turning to whisper in his ear.  
"I love you."  
Chris running down the drive way into Wyatt's arms.  
"Wy, Wy, I got in. I got in!" He exclaimed as he threw his arms around Wyatt. Wyatt twirled them around in the drive way, both laughing.  
Chris kissing him awake in the morning. "Time to get up, love."  
Chris calling out as he walked out the front door, "Have a great day, Wy. I love you."  
Chris' shock on finding out that he was the Source.  
"No, please. Wyatt tell me it isn't true," Chris pleaded with him.  
"Wyatt, please stop. You can't kill innocents."  
Chris curled in a ball in their room sobbing as though he had shattered into a thousand pieces.  
"Wyatt, let me go. Please. I can't stay here like this."  
"Wyatt, stop!"  
Chris flinching whenever he got close.  
Chris staring at him with terror as though he was a complete stranger.  
Chris crying, laughing, screaming, smiling, flinching, dancing...  
Memory after memory assaulted his senses. Wyatt embraced them all, feeling his healing powers surging out his hands for the first time in longer than he could remember.  
Slowly, the bleeding began to stop and the wound began knitting itself together. Phoebe, Paige and Leo watched with awe as colour gradually began to return to the young man's face. They nearly shouted with joy when his chest rose and fell gently.  
Gradually the healing glow faded from Wyatt's hands, prompting him to wipe the blood on his jeans before raising them to brush the hair out of Chris' closed eyes.  
"Chris, babe? Come on open those pretty eyes of yours for me," Wyatt crooned.  
He was greeted with q quiet moan and a flutter of eye lashes.  
"Wy?" he breathed, unable to keep his eyes open.  
"Hey, babe," the blonde greeted him before standing and then swooping down and picking up his husband. Wyatt carried Chris bridal style to his parents' room which was theirs in the future; ignoring the questions coming from the trio trailing behind them.  
Chris opened his eyes when he felt someone picking him up. For some reason he wasn't all that surprised to find Wyatt holding him. He also just didn't have the energy to do anything more than absorb the feeling of being in his lover's arms once again. Wyatt may have hurt him in the past but no matter what, in his own twisted way, his blonde husband, despite becoming the Source of All Evil, still loved him. Right now, someone had hurt him and his spouse was taking care of him.  
Phoebe, Paige and Leo watched the stranger settle Chris on Piper and Leo's bed before walking out the room. Standing in the doorway, he turned to them with an absolutely terrifying expression.  
"Wy… Wyatt?" Leo asked hesitantly, sure that this was his son from the future.  
"What happened?" Even though the words were basically whispered, they could feel the rage pouring off him in waves.  
Paige bravely stepped forward, "He… he's been searching for whoever turned you evil. Your mom went into labour and Chris offered to stay behind and look after mini you."  
"Gideon attacked, stabbed Chris with a cursed athame and kidnapped baby you," Phoebe added.  
Wyatt looked more and more murderous as they talked.  
"Where is he now?"  
"We don't know. He's a powerful elder. He can hide himself from us," Leo admitted.  
Wyatt gazed at them, cold eyes burning with the promise of retribution.  
"Watch Chris, and someone needs to check on Mom," he ordered.  
"Wait, where are you going?" Leo asked before he could stop himself.  
"To find Gideon. No-one, and I do mean no-one, messes with my husband and lives," Wyatt said ruthlessly before orbing to the underworld where he could sense himself.  
"He's frightening," Phoebe whispered, Paige nodding in agreement.  
Leo turned to the sisters, "Will you two be ok watching Chris? I'm going back to Piper."  
"Sure, but why hasn't he woken up yet?" Paige asked, concerned.  
"Because the athame was cursed, it drained him. Now that he's been healed he just needs to rest to regain his strength," Leo explained.  
"Oh, ok. Give our best to Piper."  
Leo nodded before he too orbed away.  
________________________________________  
-Underworld-  
Wyatt orbed in undetected. He took a moment to take in the scene before him. Gideon was standing in front of a crystal cage containing his younger self.  
Staring at the man who had almost robbed him of his spouse, Wyatt finally allowed the rage, that he had barely been able to contain, overflow. Gideon stood, taunting his younger self with absolutely no evidence of any kind of remorse at the fact that as far as he knew, he had taken Chris' life. The rage was all he could feel.  
How dare he? How dare Gideon threaten the one thing in his life that meant something?  
Wyatt stepped forward, allowing his invisibility spell to drop as he stalked towards the unsuspecting elder, much as a lion stalks his prey. Gideon stopped mid-word as an unseen force gripped him and then suddenly flung him into the nearest cave wall.  
The elder's eyes widened as he was confronted by 6' plus of pure fury. The figure radiated sheer unadulterated power, so much so that he could almost see the raw energy dancing across his skin.  
"You were dead the moment you touched him," Wyatt's voice came out soft and almost toneless, showing exactly why the world feared him. The fact that the voice didn't contain the anger that he was radiating made Gideon's throat close in fear.  
With barely a glance behind him, adult Wyatt flicked his hand in the direction of the crystal cage.  
"Wyatt, go home," he uttered as he orbed the toddler right through the crystal cage causing it to flicker and then die. With his child self safely back at the Manor, Wyatt turned his attention back onto the shaking figure held in his invisible grip.  
Gideon gulped and felt his heart drop right through his stomach at such a negligent display of power. He frantically tried to think of something to stave off his death but found he was unable to even form a sound, let alone say a word.  
Wyatt, for now he knew it could only be Wyatt from the future, continued to stare at him. Raising his right hand, the blonde wordlessly conjured an athame, one that looked suspiciously like the one used on Chris, holding the tip of the blade between his thumb and two fingers.  
Seeing the athame prompted Gideon to start begging for his life.  
"It… it was for the gr..greater good, Wyatt. Please. You have…"  
Ignoring the babbling, Wyatt gave the athame a little toss and when it came back down, he was grasping it by the hilt.  
"Wyatt, please. You should understand..," Gideon continued to babble.  
The blonde didn't even blink in recognition to the elder's pleading. He merely stepped forward and thrust the athame into Gideon, stabbing him in an upwards motion, burying the tip in his heart.  
Gideon felt the cold fingers of his own curse turn on him, slowly killing him. Wyatt stepped back; and with him went the force holding Gideon against the cave wall resulting in the dying elder crumpling to the dirty cave floor.  
Wyatt stood and watched almost clinically as his heart slowed. As Gideon's sight faded, the last sight he ever saw was little glowing lights spiraling around the Twice Blessed.  
The whirling lights sped up, starting at his head and spun downwards, leaving in their wake a changed man. When the lights faded, Wyatt glanced down expecting his black jeans, top and leather jacket. Instead, he was standing clad in blue jeans and a long-sleeved red top, his long hair replaced with a short, preppy hair cut.  
For the first time in longer than he cared to remember, he felt clean on the outside and more importantly, on the inside.  
He glanced down at Gideon's cooling corpse in confusion before suddenly remembering. Chris! With that thought, Wyatt orbed away to Chris' side where he belonged.  
________________________________________  
-Piper/Leo's Bedroom-  
After regaining consciousness, Chris was attempting to sit up, batting away the concerned hands of his aunts when Wyatt appeared. Alerted to the new presence, Chris looked up. Their eyes met and held and Wyatt could see the awareness in Chris' gaze as new memories formed.  
"Hey, who are you?" Paige demanded, Phoebe tensing, as she moved to defend Chris.  
"Wy," Chris breathed almost unheard.  
The sisters' heads snapped around to look between their whitelighter and the new arrival.  
"You're back," Chris spoke softly, referring to more than just his recent return.  
"Hey, babe," Wyatt greeted, a small smile tugging at his lips as he moved around his aunt to his stunned spouse.  
The bed dipped as the blonde sat down, helped Chris up and pulled him into a hug. Chris choked back his emotions, wrapping his arms tightly around Wyatt.  
"You did it," he whispered to Wyatt.  
Wyatt kissed the patch of skin where his neck and shoulder joined. Lifting his head, he pressed his lips to the brunette's ear.  
"No, you did. You saved me, Chris."  
Phoebe and Paige quietly snuck out the room and orbed back to the hospital to check on Piper and give the pair some privacy.  
Neither Chris nor Wyatt noticed their exit.  
Wyatt pulled away slightly, reaching up to tuck a stray hair behind the brunette's ear.  
"I love you," he told Chris quietly.  
Chris closed his eyes as tears threatened. Opening his eyes again he stared into a pair that rivaled the ocean. Eyes that were filled with love.  
"I love you, Wyatt. I always have."  
"I could never doubt it. You've more than proved it. You rescued me."  
And Now I See Clearly  
Summary: Epilogue for Betrayal of Blind Love  
Pairings: Wyatt/Chris  
Word Count: 1, 006  
Warnings: Slash, Sex Scene  
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.  
________________________________________  
The early morning sunshine was tentatively peeping around the curtains when Chris awoke. Warm and extremely comfy, he wasn't tempted to move in the slightest. A familiar weight lay wrapped around his waist.  
"Morning," a deep voice rumbled, sleep still clinging.  
Chris turned over in the circle of the arms still holding him. He smiled at the face above him.  
"Morning, Wy," he whispered, suddenly happy and terrified all at the same time.  
Wyatt sighed quietly, pressed a soft kiss to his lips and then pulled back to stare into his eyes.  
"I think we need to talk," the blonde whispered as well.  
Chris nodded.  
"Wyatt, what do you remember?"  
"I remember growing up happy, surrounded by all my family, meeting you, marrying you, the two of us being so happy. I then also have another set of memories but these ones, the specifics are fading more and more the longer we're here. It's very disconcerting."  
Chris wrapped an arm around his husband's waist in support.  
"Wy, those other memories? What do you remember?" he whispered.  
Wyatt whispered back, neither wanting to destroy the fragile mood  
"I… Chris I… I remember growing up angry. Mom and Dad were killed, we were married but you were miserable. I hurt you. I took over the underworld. I was evil. But Chris I would never hurt you," Wyatt seemed desperate that his husband understand this, talking rapidly.  
"Shhh… Wy it's ok. I know. I know you wouldn't hurt me. I remember that even though you were evil you never could kill me. You could try to but you could never take that final step. Even then there was still good in you, you loved me even then," Chris reassured him before kissing him softly.  
"How can you still love me? I mean, you died for me Chris! Damnit! You died protecting and saving me when I was horrible to you. Why?" Wyatt asked agitated.  
The brunette sighed and then spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully.  
"I love you. It's that simple. You're everything. Even when you were evil there were times when I was happy and those moments reminded me of why I loved you and gave me the strength to keep trying," he gave a little shrug, "I love you, Wyatt Matthew Halliwell and I would do anything for you including die to keep you safe."  
Wyatt's arms tightened around him at the mention of him dying. The blonde buried his face in Chris' hair breathing in his scent to reassure himself that his husband was indeed still alive, breathing and in their bed.  
"I love you so much, Chris."  
Chris suddenly got a mischievous smile on his face.  
"You know, Wy we have the house to ourselves for the next week since your parents were nice enough to go away for a couple of days to give us time to adjust. What do you think we could do to pass the time?" he asked teasingly.  
Suddenly he was rolled onto his back, Wyatt's warm weight settling over him. Chris looked up into sparkling blue eyes. The blonde's hands ran up his sides as he smirked down at his partner.  
"Oh I don't know. I'm sure we can think of something," he breathed inching closer to the brunette's lips.  
Impatient, Chris reached up, cupped the back of his blonde head and tugged him the last inch forward, crashing their lips together. Wyatt moved a hand up to stroke across Chris' cheek as he slid his tongue into his partner's mouth.  
Chris' hands moved to explore Wyatt's bare back as their tongues dueled, desperate for as much contact as they could achieve.  
Abruptly, Wyatt pulled away and sat back on his haunches. His hands, reaching for Chris' sweatpants, prompting the brunette to lift his hips to help get rid of them faster. Just as fast, the blonde shed his own pants before settling between the younger man's legs.  
"I've missed you," he panted.  
Chris wrapped his legs around Wyatt's waist.  
"Please, Wy. I need to feel you. Please."  
Wordlessly, Wyatt orbed some lube into his hands. He made quick work of preparing his husband, first one, two and then three fingers.  
"Wy, Now, please," Chris begged.  
The blonde removed his fingers quickly replacing them with something bigger.  
Chris arched up into him as he pushed forward, groaning at the tight heat surrounding him.  
Once he was fully seated, he paused, looking down into hazel eyes.  
"I love you."  
"I love you too."  
Unable to stand it any longer, Wyatt began to move, starting slowly and gaining speed. Both lost to anything but their need for each other. All too soon, they exploded, stars dancing behind their eyes.  
Wyatt pulled out and rolled onto his back, dragging a boneless Chris with him onto his chest.  
"Thank you," Wyatt whispered, pressing a kiss to his forehead.  
"Mmm for what?"  
"For believing in me, saving me, loving me. Thank you for being you."  
Chris hugged Wyatt tighter as they drifted off to sleep.  
________________________________________  
The next week was spent with the pair mainly staying in bed where they made love and talked about anything and everything.  
That weekend the entire family came to the Manor for dinner. They had magically enlarged the dinning room and the table to ensure that everyone could fit in.  
Chris glanced around the table where he sat to Wyatt's right as the blonde sat at the head of the table. On the other end of the table, Leo sat at the head with Piper sitting at his right. Next to them were Wyatt's brother and sister, Andy and Melinda.  
Phoebe was sitting with her husband, Coop, and their three daughters. Paige was with her husband, Henry and their son and twin daughters.  
The young whitelighter smiled at all his family laughing and talking. He glanced to his side and met Wyatt's smiling face, an answering grin on his face.  
He may have been blinded by love but he could clearly see that it had all been worth it.


End file.
